Regular Show: Wrath of The Skull Master
by scrambledlizard
Summary: The Skull Master, a legendary technomancer that could do almost anything with a laptop, has been killed. Right? His evil ways won't haunt the park or the world anymore, right? Mordecai, Rigby, and the rest of the group are about to find out just how wrong they are when the great evil that is "Skull Master" returns.
1. Recap

(**Side Note: **Alright, so this story can be read as a standalone story, though it is a sequel. If you did not read Regular Show: Rise of The Skull Master, then read this chapter and you should be all caught up. If you DID read it, then you are free to skip this chapter as it is just a recap of what happened.)

**Chapter 1:**

Rigby quit his job to go compete in a six-month long "Skull-Master's Tournament" trying to win the ultimate prize. Mordecai, upset, talks to Margaret and it turns out Eileen left to compete as well. The two birds decide to get their friends before it is too late. Once there, the Skull Master himself emerges and dislikes the protest against the competition that Mordecai and Margaret are making. So, he uses his magic to teleport Mordecai, Rigby, Eileen and a newly-arrived Muscle Man into the bus that will take them to the contest. Mordecai, Rigby and Muscle Man become unwilling competitors while the Skull Master kidnaps Margaret.

**Chapter 2:**

Hi-5 ghost, wanting to save Muscle Man joins a group called the Anti-Skulls. The other members are Skips, Chad, Jeremy, and Techmo, while it is led by Death himself. Meanwhile, a stranger named Yulon suddenly arrives at the park and takes a job. However, it is clear that he is aiming for a different goal than expected. Back with Mordecai, Rigby, Eileen, and Muscle Man, the contest officially starts.

**Chapter 3:**

Skull-Master announces Margaret as his girlfriend, and she does the same for him, making Mordecai feel sick. The group gets separated from Muscle Man during one of the challenges. In the next challenge, Mordecai meets him again, but Muscle Man tries to eliminate the blue jay. Rigby allies himself with a brown bird named Carson. Once the challenge is complete, and nobody is eliminated, the group is separated. Rigby and Carson are together, while somewhere else, Mordecai and Eileen are sticking together. Meanwhile, the Anti-Skulls search for traces of the Skull-Masters magic so they can use it to find out where he is.

**Chapter 4:**

Yulon eats an expired coffee bar, which transforms him into a monster. Meanwhile, during the next challenge, everyone is separated again. When it ends, Carson and Mordecai are together, and somewhere else, Rigby and Eileen are together. The Anti-Skulls find the location with the trace of magic that they found and once they get there, Jeremy betrays them and traps them all in golden bubbles. Chad is especially hurt by this.

**Chapter 5:**

Yulon is freed from his monster-iness, but is put through a one month coma. When it ends, he realizes he doesn't have that much time left to complete his mission. Back at the competition, a laser tag mission is assigned. Meanwhile, the Anti-Skulls are freed due to Techmo using his Zoron-Interrupters. The group of them are in Skull-Master's tower and begin to stage an all-out brawl against the Skull-Master and the Skull-Master's robots. The Anti-Skulls escape the Skull-Master, and run straight into Jeremy. Jeremy, who claims he has new powers given by the Skull-Master, mutates. Back at the park, Yulon is fired due to Benson overhearing him talking about the mission.

**Chapter 6:**

The Anti-Skulls discover that the Skull-Master is not a powerful sorcerer at all. Instead, he is a technomancer. The Skull-Master's entire competition was on a laptop, and he was merely digitizing the competitors. If a competitor was eliminated, he would delete their file. Furthermore, the Skull Master could rewrite the file of someone. Jeremy overhears this, and remembers his true memories, not the rewritten one. Jeremy realigns himself with the Anti-Skulls and steals the laptop. Techmo hacks into the robots code and makes them all self-destruct. The Anti-Skulls barely get out, with the laptop. They all emerge at the park. Techmo uses a flashdrive and puts Rigby, Mordecai, and Muscle Man on it. In doing so, he accidentally adds Eileen and Carson. However, due to him not safely removing the flashdrive, a challenge file is also added. Meanwhile, Yulon gets a new job at the coffee shop…where he meets Margaret. Margaret is hosting the Skull-Master's soul due to the Skull Master having his body destroyed. Then, Death asks Hi-5 to perform a…_special _task.

**Chapter 7:**

Hi-5's special task is to find out who is currently Skull-Master's host. After seeing Yulon react strangely to coffee bars(due to the events in Chapter 4), Hi-5's believes that the host is Yulon. Death confronts Yulon, and forces him to confess the mission. Meanwhile, Margaret realizes she has been rewritten and tries to get the Skull Master out of her head. However, he ends up taking control of her. Mordecai, Rigby, Eileen, Muscle Man, and Carson all compete in the final challenge, and they all tie so that nobody has to be eliminated. Techmo frees them. The celebration between the former competitors and Techmo is cut short by Death and Yulon, who claim that the battle against the Skull Master is far from over.

**Chapter 8/Final Chapter:**

Rigby, Mordecai, Carson, Muscle Man, and Eileen join the Anti-Skulls. Yulon confesses to the Anti-Skulls that he was from the planet of Namera, which the competition was also head upon. It turns out, the Skull Master holds his competition on multiple planets and just travels to a far-enough away planet where nobody has heard of him. Yulon was saved from the contest by Namera's version of the Anti-Skulls, known as the Skull-Crushers. The Skull-Crushers revealed that the Skull Master had put a nanochip in his own soul which allowed him to survive even if his body was destroyed. When the Skull Master possesses a new host, his soul goes into their body…as does the nanochip. Yulon was implanted with a counter-nanochip. The nanochips would destroy each other…but kill their hosts. However, the Anti-Skulls still have to find the new host, given it wasn't Yulon. When they find out that it is Margaret, they all confront her. Margaret/Skull Master plans to digitize the entire world and start the competition anew. The Anti-Skulls get severely beaten up due to Margaret/Skull Master's strength. Defeated, they all prepare to be digitized…but then Eileen yells out that Margaret loves Mordecai. This motivates the blue jay, and he stands up and successfully frees Margaret from the Skull Master's control. Yulon gets close to Margaret and uses the counter-nanochip…and is killed. Margaret is safe because it was only the soul of the Skull Master that got killed, because her soul didn't have the chip in it. With the Skull Master now dead, the Anti-Skulls un-digitize everything and then bid farewell to each other until further notice.

(Side Note: And that's the recap! Of course, it's severely condensed, so some parts may seem a bit…weird. Anyways, I'm excited to start work on this sequel! Hope you guys will enjoy it!)


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Yes, yes, we're still sorting out the details." The muscular yeti spoke. A phone was held against his right ear, and the yeti seemed unusually stressed. He proceeded to speak a series of "Yeah, okay, got it," for a while. When the voice on the other end finally stopped, the yeti hung up the phone into a socket upon the wall.

"Nervous, Skips?" a tall, older man laughed. White hair sprouted from his scalp, and he wore a small jacket, but no shirt. His green skin was revealed, and one of his arms was purely robotic, with a series of buttons flashing upon it.

"Let's just get this over with, Techmo." Skips sighed, as he pulled out a mystical object.

"Alright, want to double-check the procedure?" Techmo asked his muscular friend.

"Nah, it's simple. We're only analyzing Yulon's corpse because Death detected that somehow, a soul is inhabiting it and the soul refuses to be removed." Skips sighed.

"It's strange. A month ago, he used his nanochip to destroy the soul of the Skull Master…and himself. But, if Yulon's dead, why is there still something inhabiting his body? And why hasn't Death been able to find his soul?" Techmo rambled.

"Hopefully this analysis will turn up some evidence." Skips sighed. The two stood side-by-side as Skips poured a sand over the body of Yulon. Yulon's skin was a sickly pale, his eyes shut and lips sealed without color. There were no signs of life. Once the sand covered enough of the body. Techmo began to boot up a machine. Skips placed Yulon's body in a capsule and, with an enchanted marker, drew strange signs all around it. Once the yeti had closed the capsule, he walked into a small doorway. When he came out, he did not have the capsule, and he closed the door.

"Is it inside the machine?" Techmo inquired. The yeti said that the capsule was indeed inside the machine. There were no windows between the rooms. Techmo nodded and punched in a sequence of numbers onto a control panel in the wall, opposite of the telephone socket. He squinted as he worked, not blinking once. Finally, the technomancer clicked a green button and backed away from the panel. A large noise filled the air as the machine went to work. Skips and Techmo moved closer together as the room began to shake. When the shaking ceased, Techmo resumed punching in numbers.

"And? Anything unusual?" Skips asked.

"I can't tell. The machine will have to process the data. We should have the results back in about two days." Techmo replied. Skips entered the other room and returned with the capsule, having removed it from the machine.

"Let's find out what's so strange about this Namerian…" Skips mumbled.

…

"Dude. I. Am. Bored." Rigby stated, facing the sky with his back upon the grass. His blue jay friend walked up to him.

"Yeah, but it's kind of nice not having a supernatural beast attack the park for a while." Mordecai grinned, as he dropped a rake onto the body of Rigby. The raccoon whined his protests, desperately wanting to not rake the leaves. Mordecai resumed his job, ignoring Rigby's pleas for permission to be lazy. When it was apparent that Mordecai wasn't listening, Rigby just mumbled and turned over so his back began to face the sun instead of his front.

"Hey there, losers!" a familiar voice called out, as a plump green-ish man approached.

"What do you want, Muscle Man?" Mordecai asked, not appreciating the new company.

"Benson says that you guys have to operate the snack bar now while 5's and I leave." The fat man grinned.

"What?! But, we still have to finish raking the leaves. Where are you and 5's going anyways?" Mordecai asked.

"We found a lead on who's defacing the park restrooms with the spray paint! So Benson gave us permission to do some investigation." Muscle Man grinned. Before Mordecai could protest, Muscle Man walked away. The blue jay sighed, before he heard a loud scream.

"STAY AWAY! DON'T EAT ME! PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!" Rigby screamed as he woke up from his nightmare. He spotted the blue jay.

"Hey, can you operate the snack bar while I rake the leaves?" Mordecai asked.

"Yeah, sure. Just as long as you promise not to eat me." Rigby responded. The blue jay just stared with a strange look. "Aw, fine." The raccoon grumbled, getting up and heading towards the snack bar.

…

"RIGBY! Why are you operating the snack bar!" Benson cried out.

"Because Mordecai told me too." The raccoon said.

"Well, Muscle Man and 5's are supposed to be operating it today." Benson sighed.

"I thought we were supposed to be following up on our lead to find out who's defacing the park restrooms." A ghostly voice intervened. Hi-5 ghost joined the scene, with a look of confusion on his face.

"I never told you to do that!" Benson said.

"But Muscle Man told me…" Hi-5 ghost began to speak, before the gumball machine cut him off:

"I don't care what Muscle Man said! Hi-5's, you operate the snack bar! Rigby, since you're already here, you can help him out. I've got to talk with Muscle Man…"

With that, Benson had left.

…

"Ruh-ruh-ruh-Raking! Raking leaves! Ruh-ruh-ruh-Raking! Raking leaves!" Mordecai sung to himself as he finished his job. With all the leaves in neat little piles, he went off to play videogames.

"MORDECAI!" a sharp voice interrupted his task.

"Oh. Benson." The blue jay sighed.

"Where do you think you're going?!" the gumball machine asked.

"To take a break." Mordecai responded.

"No, I want you to help Muscle Man find out who's defacing the park restrooms!" Benson said.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Mordecai sighed, walking off. The blue jay was nearly at the restrooms until he ran into Benson.

"Mordecai, did you finish raking the leaves?!" Benson asked.

"Yeah, I was going to take a break." The blue jay sighed.

"Hm. I thought your breaks involved videogames." Benson sighed.

"They do. But you told me to help Muscle Man instead." Mordecai responded.

"No. I didn't." the gumball machine retorted.

"Well, if you didn't, then it was someone who looked exactly like you." Mordecai replied.

"Oh, hey Benson! Thanks for operating the snack bar for us!" Rigby called out as he and Hi-5 ghost approached.

"I'm not operating the stupid snack bar!" Benson screamed.

"Yes you are. You just talked to us. Right, Benson?" Hi-5's ghost said.

"Exactly right." Benson responded, walking up to Hi-5 ghost.

"No, I didn't! Because I was going on my way to talk to Muscle Man!" Benson cried out, standing next to Mordecai. It was then that everybody realized that there were two Benson's.

…

"A lot can happen in two days, Techmo." Skips told his friend over the phone, as he lay in his shed, reading up on shape-shifters.

"I know, but technology hasn't advanced any further quite yet. If we just be patient…" the technomancer sighed, as he typed on a computer fifty miles away.

"Well, a duplicate Benson just showed up today, breaking the park's chain of uneventfulness. Things are just unpredictable here." The yeti sighed, turning the page.

"Well, if we're lucky, two days from now, both our schedule's will remain clear." Techmo responded. With that, the call was ended.

…

"Mm…yes, yes, they're both nearly identical." Doug sighed, surveying the two Benson's.

"I still don't see how we can trust an outlaw." Benson-1 pointed out.

"He still owes us for quitting the Anti-Skull operation without telling anyone." Hi-5 ghost replied.

"Yes, Death is still peeved at me. I'm doing this for my mortal soul, understand?" the mongoose sighed.

"And who else can spot imposters better than a master of…um…imposter-ing himself?" Rigby said.

"Alright, fine. Let's just get this over with." Benson-2 said.

"It was weird. We were all together on my first meeting with the Anti-Skulls. Then, Doug just vanished and nobody noticed." Hi-5 sighed, thinking out loud.

"Yeh, yeh, when you're an outlaw like me, you know how to make a quick getaway. Besides, I might rejoin the Anti-Skulls." Doug said, in his gruff voice as he surveyed the Bensons.

"The Anti-Skulls disbanded. Skull Master's dead, remember?" Mordecai said.

"Oh. So, Skips hasn't told you guys yet. There's been a complication." Doug said, as he backed away from the two gumball machines.

"What complication?" Hi-5 ghost asked.

"Well, Yulon's body is still being inhabited with a living soul that can't be removed. After Yulon destroyed himself, Death never got his soul. So whatever Yulon's body is being inhabited with, whether it be Yulon's soul or something else, it might tie into what happened that fateful day when the counter-nanochip was activated." Doug rambled, before pointing to Benson-2. "There's yer imposter."

"If it is Yulon's soul, why won't it be removed?" Muscle Man sighed.

"Death can take souls easily. What makes Yulon's so special?" Rigby pointed out.

"Perhaps nothing. Maybe Yulon was pulled out of his own body earlier and then when the counter-nanochip was activated, something else was inside him." Mordecai said, confused.

When the cops arrived to take Benson-2 away, Doug had gone missing again. The former Anti-Skulls huddled together in fear. The big question rang out: What made Yulon so special?

…

The group was searching for Muscle Man, who was still searching for leads as to who was defacing the park restrooms. The last person to have seen him was Mordecai.

"I'm tired of searching. Let's take a break." The raccoon wailed.

"Alright, fine. Let's check on the coffee shop." The blue jay responded. When they were there, they found Margaret and Eileen.

"If only there was a pickle coffee." Margaret laughed, talking to Eileen.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Rigby asked.

"Nothing much, Margaret has a sudden craving for pickles." Eileen sighed.

"I don't know what happened. Earlier today, I was just eating some breakfast and then I thought…'You know. I want pickles.' So I went out and bought pickles and haven't stopped eating them since!" Margaret laughed.

"Hm. There's something fishy about pickles. I feel like it's a sign." Rigby said, suspiciously.

"What could pickles be a sign of?" Mordecai laughed, before ordering a sandwich.

"I don't know…but I know that it's something sinister. I can't remember. We were visiting the coffee shop, you and Margaret were talking…" Rigby sighed, trying to get his memory together.

"Why would we talk about pickles?" the blue jay laughed.

"Here's your food." Eileen said, handing him the sandwich.

"Thanks!" Mordecai grinned, bringing it close to his mouth. Suddenly, the blue jay's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His hands fell limp and the sandwich fell and hit the floor.

"Mordecai, dude!" Rigby said.

"I think I know what you're talking about, Rigby." The blue jay sighed.

"What? What's wrong with pickles?" Margaret asked, taking a bite from one.

"Listen, Margaret, remember when—" Mordecai began to speak.

"Remember when what?" Margaret asked as the blue jay trailed off.

"You told me that SM had a codeword…" Mordecai sighed.

"SM? You mean…Skull Master? But he's dead, we killed him a long time ago, remember?" Margaret laughed nervously.

"I'd like to believe so. But the codeword was pickles. And he was controlling you with it." The blue jay pointed out.

"So…this is a sign that SM is returning?" Rigby inquired.

"Hopefully it's just a random craving and nothing more." Mordecai sighed.

…

"Two days have passed since we operated the machine. I'm going to go with Techmo to view the results of our analysis." Skips told the crew as he left. Mordecai and Rigby exchanged worried looks, both hoping for the results to be not-apocalyptic. When the yeti was gone, Benson told everyone the top priority; to find Muscle Man.

"It's been two days since the imposter showed up and Muscle Man went missing. While the defacing of the park restroom has stopped, we need to find him." The gumball machine said.

"It's too bad Skips couldn't use anything supernatural to help us out." Mordecai sighed.

"He was too focused on chatting with Techmo instead. Why are the two of them so fascinated with a scenario that's probably going to turn out to not really matter in the long run?" Rigby blurted out. Everyone stared at him.

"Well, at least, I hope it won't matter in the long run." The raccoon sighed.

"Right. We can only hope that SM won't return." Mordecai sighed.

"Who's SM?" Benson asked.

"You wouldn't know. You weren't with us for the final battle." The blue jay sighed.

"What final battle?" the gumball machine asked.

"Let's just find Muscle Man already. I'm starting to get worried." Hi-5's ghost interrupted. The conversation abruptly ended, everyone went their separate ways to find Muscle Man.

…

"What do the results say?" the yeti asked Techmo as he read things off from a sheet of paper.

"How odd. They say that the entity inhabiting Yulon IS the Skull-Master…but he's trapped because something went wrong in the body swap. Apparently, Yulon's nanochip was voided by the Skull-Master…so somehow, Skull-Master found Yulon alone because you have to be within a one foot distance to do such a thing. How did Skull-Master get one foot away from Yulon without Yulon reacting?" Techmo sighed.

"He didn't. Margaret did. When Skull Master was inhabiting Margaret's body, Yulon had a job at the coffee shop. Before all the technology was stolen, Margaret and Yulon must have been standing next to each other because they were working together. When they were next to each other, Skull Master just hacked into Yulon's nanochip and voided it." Skips pointed out.

"So when Mordecai enabled Margaret to fight the Skull Master's control, the Skull Master decided he needed a new host because Margaret was too strong for him. When Yulon activated the nanochip…he didn't do anything because the nanochip was voided. But because they were within a one-foot distance again, Skull Master's soul must've been able to access the blank nanochip." Techmo realized.

"Yes, it all makes sense. In summary, SM voided Yulon's counter-nanochip at the coffee shop, making Yulon's chip blank, then in the final battle, Yulon's counter-nanochip was blank, so when they were within a one foot distance a second time, Skull Master just moved his essence into Yulon's chip." Skips finished.

"But something went wrong. Skull Master's soul had a chip in it…so when it moved into Yulon's body by accessing the blank chip, he got trapped inside the blank chip. So instead of having a body, Skull Master is now just a chip in Yulon's body. But because it went wrong and unstable, Yulon's soul must've been destroyed in the process." Techmo theorized.

"So, theoretically, if we just perform a surgery, remove the chip from Yulon and destroy it, then Skull Master will actually be dead. Permanently." Skips realized.

…

After removing the chip, Skips pulled out a sledgehammer.

"Ready Techmo?" Skips asked.

"I'm r-" Techmo began.

"What's wrong, Tech?" the yeti asked.

"HAIL TO SKULL MASTER!" Techmo screamed, tackling Skips. The muscular yeti threw him off with ease.

"What's gotten into you?!" Skips shouted back. Techmo grabbed the chip and ran. Skips pursued. But, once the yeti turned the corner, he found the technomancer, and the chip to be gone.

…

(SIDE NOTE: And that concludes our prologue! With Techmo and the chip containing Skull Master missing, what's to happen next? Where's Muscle Man? And why did Techmo betray Skips? Next chapter, I intend to answer some of these questions. Now, if I get a review, that makes a guaranteed next chapter. If I don't…then next chapter is not guaranteed. So remember to review even if it is just a comment saying you were here, it means a lot! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter and enjoy the possibly-coming ones!)


	3. The Return

**Chapter One**

"Shouldn't you be looking for Muscle Man?" the red bird asked Mordecai.

"Yeah, but breaks are always good. Besides, I wanted to talk to you." Mordecai answered, with a smile. Margaret, the red bird, returned the warm feeling as she gave him a bagel.

"I hope that you were right when you said it's most likely that the Skull Master won't return." Margaret sighed, taking a seat besides Mordecai at the small table.

"Yeah, you felt his soul die, didn't you? While he was in your body, I mean." Mordecai pointed out.

"I felt his soul…fade. After that, everything's…blurry. I remember fainting and waking up in Skips's shed." Margaret said. Mordecai scratched his head.

"Well, I'm sure Skips himself will be back any time now to confirm that Skull Master is gone for good." The blue jay said.

"Yeah, I hope so. Thanks for stopping by, Mordecai." Margaret smiled, getting up and walking off. Mordecai got up as well, deciding it was time to resume the search for Muscle Man. He ran into Rigby on his way out of the coffee shop.

"There you are! I thought you had gone missing as well!" the raccoon cried out.

"Nah, just taking some time off to talk to a friend." Mordecai sighed. The duo left the shop. Once they were gone, Eileen came out of the restroom.

"Hey, Margaret! What'd I miss?" the mole asked.

"Nothing much. Mordecai showed up for a bit." The red bird responded as an older man walked through the door.

"Hello. A coffee please." The man said bluntly, his skin a pulsating red.

As Margaret poured the coffee, Eileen noticed something was off.

"Hey, you look like a friend of ours." Eileen observed, faking a smile.

"Yes, yes. Is there any chance that I may speak to Margaret?" the man asked.

"Sure, sure. Have you met a person named Techmo?" Eileen responded.

"Oh yeah, he's a good friend of mine." The man grinned, speaking with a slight accent. His eyes were hollowed, and there was something wrong with the way he spoke…it was as if two people were speaking at once.

"Here's your coffee, sir." Margaret smiled, handing the cup over.

"Oh, dear me! Margaret, I think I left the oven for the cinnamon rolls on!" Eileen blurted out, taking her friend by the hand and leading her to the back of the coffee shop, out of the man's earshot.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Margaret asked, confused.

"That man looks EXACTLY like Techmo, except for the skin and eyes. Also, his voice…it has that familiar accent!" Eileen hissed, fiercely.

"I think you're a bit paranoid after that talk of Skull Master's return a few days ago." Margaret whispered back, her voice shaky.

"No, something's wrong. Those hollow eyes…the pulsating red skin. Is it possible Techmo is being possessed by something?" Eileen responded.

"Ah, so you've caught on." A new voice answered. Both girls turned around to see Techmo standing behind them, having snuck up while they were talking. Both screamed as Techmo moved closer.

"S-Stay away! Who are you and what've you done with Techmo?!" Margaret cried out.

"Oh, he offered himself as my new host. Not that he had a choice…you see, he had tech in his mind that allowed him to 'jack into' machines. I just took over his mind by accessing that tech and BAM! He was committed to my every need. A willing slave." The man laughed, the accent getting stronger.

"You hacked into Techmo's mind?! But…that's advanced stuff! Nobody can do that!" Eileen blurted out, trying to stall for time. Both girls were cornered.

"Have you forgotten me already, Eileen? I'm the Skull Master. And you two are next to join me as I get my revenge on those…Anti-Skulls." Techmo laughed, his body pulsating brighter.

"I won't let you take over again…" Margaret whispered.

"I don't believe there's an option…sweetie." Techmo grinned, knowing that he had trapped them. A gunshot pierced the tense air, with a bullet finding it's way into Techmo's body. The former ally of the Anti-Skulls turned around, and found himself face-to-face with a powerful yeti.

"Skull Master." Skips growled.

"Oh, Skips. Took you long enough to find me." Techmo giggled, before punching a few buttons on his robotic arm. Immediately, wires burst from the walls, sparks shooting out of their ends. Every wall in the coffee shop was punctured with the rubber-coated wires that wrapped around Margaret, Eileen, and Skips.

"You're outnumbered." A familiar voice said. Mordecai had shown up through the door. Multiple wires aimed for him, but the blue jay was too quick. Skips watched in awe as Mordecai displayed high athleticism. The yeti, not expecting the blue jay was capable of such things, tried to figure out what could've triggered it. But when Margaret screamed a happy cry of hope, Skips knew what was going on. It was a strange thing…love was motivating Mordecai to run faster, evade efficiently, and make his way all the way to the Skull Master. The blue jay landed one solid punch on the Skull Master's right cheek.

"Hm. It seems I've made a mess of this place. I'd better quit while I'm ahead." Techmo laughed. The wires fell limp and the girls and Skips were freed. Techmo punched in a few new numbers, and a cloud of green smoke enveloped him. When the cloud dissipated, Techmo was gone.

…

"Thanks, Mordecai. You were really brave." Margaret said, giving the blue jay a firm hug.

"Where's Skips? He must've called us here for a reason." A certain mongoose said.

"Don't worry, Doug. He'll be here. I hear that whatever he's called us here for is important. Or at least it better be, as it interrupted my research on the Negative Devones disease." A white bird said.

"Jeremy, weren't you researching Negative Devones months ago when the Anti-Skulls first formed?" Mordecai pointed out.

"Yeah, but finding a cure takes a long time, y'know. Chad quit the project, but I still have hope I'll find the cure." Jeremy, the white bird, replied.

"Oh yeah, where is Chad?" Rigby asked, as he entered the shed.

"I dunno, went missing a while ago, shortly after Muscle Man came to visit the university." Jeremy stated, stretching his arms out.

"You saw Muscle Man?" Margaret gasped.

A bell rang and Skips entered the shed.

"Hello, all. You may be wondering why you're here. Well, as of today, I have devastating news. The Skull Master has returned." The yeti announced. Everyone in the shed began a loud mix of reactions until the bell rang again, silencing everyone but Skips.

"There was an attack today, and apparently, the Skull Master is trying to build up a counter force to exact his revenge on the Anti-Skulls. So far, the only known member is Techmo…the Skull Master's new host." Skips continued, as a worried look was exchanged throughout the shed. Skips waited for the news to settle before continuing the news:  
"In order to do that, I have assembled the Anti-Skulls back together…well, most of them anyways. We also have a few new members. For their sake, I will read off everyone that is here and accounted for: Rigby, a raccoon with no special talent, Mordecai, a blue jay with a sense of responsibility and heroism, Jeremy, a talented bird from a prestigious university, Margaret, a red-breasted robin who Skull Master has targeted, Hi-5 ghost, who seeks to find Muscle Man, Doug, a mongoose that can shape-shift, Carson, a strategic bird, and Don, Rigby's super-awesome muscular gym-loving wonderful brother." Skips concluded.

"So, wait—what about Death? He was the leader of the Anti-Skulls last time." Carson pointed out.

"Death is part of the group, but not in the shed. In fact, after I confronted him about the return of Skull Master, he was the one who suggested to reform the Anti-Skulls. After that, Death said he had something…important to take care of and walked out on me." Skips responded bluntly.

"Well, it's nice to be back at the park. Give me some sugar, Skips!" Don said excitedly, to which the yeti obeyed and a hug was exchanged. After Don had gotten some sugar from everyone else in the shed, Carson asked what the plan was.

"Alright, so the first thing on the agenda is to find traces from the attack on the coffee shop. By finding any leftover traces from Techmo, we may be able to track the Skull Master down." Skips said, with everyone staring at him.

"No offense, but what are we supposed to collect them with? Death gave us some stuff to assist when we got this mission the first time." Jeremy inquired.

"Well, this time, the whole reformation was a bit rushed. I didn't have time to prepare. So, just collect traces anyway that you can. I'm going to try to sort things out for the next couple of missions while you do so." Skips sighed.

"But, Skips, that seems a bit disorganized—" Doug began to speak, before Skips rang the bell again.

"Everyone, just go. I have some stuff to sort out." Skips sighed. Everyone left the garage to begin the first mission, while the yeti silently grieved for his lost friend.

…

"They recognized me at the coffee shop. If only they hadn't, then perhaps I would've been able to annex Margaret into our little group." Techmo said, speaking to Chad, Muscle Man, and a shadowy figure.

"Perhaps we need to change your appearance, master. We have two options; get you a new body, or change the current one." Chad stated.

"Yes, good idea, Chad. I want you to go and find me a new body. One that nobody in that little ragtag team of Anti-Skulls will be able to recognize." The Skull Master replied. Chad nodded and left.

"What would you like me to do, sir?" Muscle Man squealed, as he got up.

"Muscle Man, I need a spy. You've been missing too long, they won't trust you any longer. I want you to kidnap somebody within the Anti-Skulls or affiliated with them so we can assimilate them to us, the Super Skulls." Techmo/Skull Master said. Muscle Man grinned, having an opportunity to please his new master. The fat green man left. Then, the shadowy figure approached, awaiting their next mission.

…

"A new Anti-Skulls team? Why can't I be in it?" Eileen groaned to Rigby, as they talked.

"Because, Skips didn't want to put more lives at danger than necessary. The only reason Margaret got in was because the Skull Master is targeting her." Rigby responded, taking a sip of hot chocolate.

"But-but-he might come after me as well! I was at the coffee shop when he attacked!" she whined.

"Well, we'll save you if he comes back. But you need to maintain your job here and wait until Skips can decide what he wishes to do with you." The raccoon sighed. Eileen just nodded, trying to understand.

…

"This sucks. How am I supposed to know how to collect traces?!" Mordecai exclaimed, banging his head on the wall.

"I know the feeling, bro. Last time, I was completely lost." Hi-5 ghost responded.

"Would you like me to teach the two of you?" Carson asked, as he approached.

"Yes, please! I'd like to take down the Skull Master, once and for all!" Mordecai grinned. The tall brown bird known as Carson simply nodded in response.

"Skips said the attack was at the coffee shop…that's where the traces will be the strongest. I want you two to follow me. Once we're there, I'll show you how to collect the traces themselves." The tall brown bird stated, walking ahead of the two park employees. Hi-5 ghost and Mordecai looked at each other before following Carson.

…

"Thanks for agreeing to defend me, Jeremy." Margaret said, happily.

"Any time. You know, the Skull Master took control of me as well. Let's hope it doesn't happen to either of us again." The white bird responded, as he headed towards the coffee shop.

"So, your machine will help us find the traces, right?" Margaret confirmed.

"Yeah, I built one for you as well if you want it." Jeremy smiled, warmly.

"Last time, I was just a burden in everyone's side…I was the damsel in distress. This time, I'll do whatever I can to help!" Margaret exclaimed. Jeremy, pleased by this response, handed her a brick with what seemed to be a calculator on top.

"Um…you're going to have to tell me how to work this." Margaret laughed, nervously.

"Of course. Well, here we are at the coffee shop." Jeremy said, as the two stopped.

"Hey guys!" Carson exclaimed as he approached.

"Oh, hey Carson." Jeremy said, before Mordecai and Hi-5's arrived.

"Looks like we're all here for the traces." Mordecai laughed, before he saw Margaret. The two quickly moved closer to each other, while Jeremy suddenly displayed a look of dismay.

"Hope Eileen won't mind us." Carson laughed, as the group of five entered the shop. As they collected traces, Mordecai paused.

"Hm. Wonder where Eileen is." The blue jay observed, noticing nobody was running the shop.

"She's probably goofing off with Rigby." Margaret laughed.

"Wow, didn't know Eileen was a slacker as well." The blue jay grinned.

"Hey, Margaret. Come here. You wanted me to teach you, remember?" Jeremy said, from across the shop.

"Oh, yeah. But Carson's contraption is similar to yours and he's explaining things pretty well." Margaret shouted back.

"Why, thank you, Margaret." The tall, brown bird grinned as he approached. He took Margaret's hands and positioned them into the right spot on the brick so it would be easy to press the necessary buttons.

"Your hands are so cold, jeez!" Carson joked.

"Well, your hands are burning." Margaret teased. Mordecai and Jeremy shared a look of brief worry, before Mordecai simply walked in between Margaret and Carson.

"So, um…what's this button do again?" the blue jay laughed nervously, holding up a brick of his own.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that one for now. You see—" Carson began explaining, before Jeremy walked over.

"Hey, Margaret, there's some strong traces over there. You want to help me pick some up?" Jeremy asked.

Margaret giggled and the two walked away together. Carson stopped talking to Mordecai and followed.

"Oh, Carson. What're you doing here?" Jeremy said, hurriedly, sneaking a glance at the oblivious Margaret.

"Nothing much. Just wanted to get some of the strong traces." Carson laughed, coldly.

Mordecai was about to walk over, before Hi-5 ghost interrupted him.

"Jeez, Carson and Jeremy should start focusing on the mission instead of Margaret." The ghost laughed.

"Yeah…I guess so." Mordecai sighed, having been stopped in his tracks. The blue jay and the ghost continued to scan for traces.

(SIDE NOTE: And that concludes this chapter of our tale! What will Skull Master's new appearance be? And what's to happen to Techmo's body once Skull Master ditches it?! Who could the third member of the Super Skulls be?! Once more, some of these questions will be answered next chapter…if there is a next chapter. Seriously, guys, I need reviews! Any comment whatsoever, please? Once more, reviews GUARANTEE chapters. Without them, there's only a chance that more chapters will come out. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter and enjoy the possibly coming ones!)


	4. Rigged Traces

"That's so…weird." Skips noted, writing down the coordinates on a chalkboard.

"What's so weird?" Margaret asked.

"Yeah, we got the traces and a location from the coffee shop. Well, at least 5's and I did." Mordecai pointed out.

"Well I heard there were strong traces in a place where there turned out not to be any traces. Guess Jeremy was wrong. Right, Margaret?" Carson grinned.

"Well, everybody makes mistakes." The red bird stammered, while Jeremy remained silent and blushed.

"Erm…yeah, just don't make mistakes when it matters." Skips contributed, though the remark seemed forced. After everyone stared at him silently for at least two seconds, the yeti seemed to remember what had been troubling him.

"Anyways, last time we got the traces, they were encrypted. It wasn't without the knowledge of Techmo and myself that we finally got the location. This time, there was no encryption…we just straight-up received a location." The yeti sighed.

"Well, since our whole 'reformation' thing was rushed, isn't it right to feel that Skull Master's new plan is also rushed and disorganized?" Jeremy said.

"No, there's some organization going on with the enemy. I'm beginning to feel like the return of the Skull Master may have a connection to the disappearance of Muscle Man and Chad." Skips said.

"Well…both Rigby and Eileen haven't been seen for a while either." Margaret stated.

"How true. But given Rigby's nature, he probably forgot the meeting…and Eileen isn't even part of the Anti-Skulls." Skips sighed, shrugging it off.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but while we're talking here and wasting time, isn't it possible that the Skull Master could be further formulating his plan?" Carson asked.

"You're right. Anyways, I'm suspecting something is wrong with the location that we have received. I will need a small group of volunteers to check it out while the rest of us stay behind. The group's job will be to find out what is at the location and relay back to us anything important. But, it could be a trap, which also means that this mission will be extremely dangerous. Any volunteers?" the yeti said, pausing occasionally as if to question the plan he was currently talking about. No hands went up to take the mission.

As if noticing nobody else wanted to take the job, Carson sighed and reluctantly raised his hand.

"Oh, Carson, you're so brave!" Margaret blurted out, giving the brown bird a hug. Less than a second had passed when Jeremy and Mordecai also raised their hands, wearing determined looks.

"Look like we have our group. Mordecai, Carson, Jeremy…good luck. You guys stay in the shed with me and we'll go over some further details. Everyone else is dismissed." Skips bluntly said.

…

"EILEEN! WHERE IS SHE?!" the raccoon cried out as soon as he was able to see.

"Calm down, Rigby." A familiar voice said. Rigby looked up and saw Techmo, before screaming in horror.

"GUYS! IT'S THE SKULL MASTER! HE'S STILL IN—" Rigby began to say, before he was firmly slapped across the cheek.

"No, it's just me! Notice how my skin isn't pulsating red anymore?!" Techmo pointed out. Rigby also observed that the technomancer's eyes were full again…no longer hollow.

"Then…where's the Skull Master? And where am I? And where's Eileen? And how'd you break free?!" Rigby began to ask, as a waterfall of questions crowded the room. Techmo held up a finger to shush the raccoon.

"It's going to be okay. Eileen is in a safe place…I want you to listen. The Skull Master has a new body, so he could be anyone…or anything. I haven't seen him myself, but I know that when he went into the new body, I was free. Hence, I was able to escape! You and Eileen were the Skull Master's next targets, so I saved you both. Now, while Eileen is safe, I have a sneaking feeling he's still after you. You need to remain in this warehouse and never leave. Don't try to contact anyone, because the Skull Master can track you down. Just stay here and wait." Techmo finished.

"That's crazy! We need to get some help, or reunite with the Anti-Skulls, or something!" Rigby protested.

"Trust me, everything's going to be okay if we sit and wait. Otherwise, we'll be in danger. And I will put myself at danger and try to locate some of the Anti-Skulls, but you mustn't get caught." The technomancer said, soberly.

"What's so special about me?" the raccoon inquired.

"You provide hope to them, Rigby. To Eileen. To Mordecai. They'll be crushed…but nobody will care if I'm gone. They still think I'm under his influence, and if I'm not careful, he may take control of me again." Techmo said, shivering. Rigby nodded, seeming to understand. Once Techmo left, Rigby's stomach growled. After noticing there was no food in the warehouse, Rigby decided to speak his opinion out loud and noisily:

"This. Sucks."

…

Margaret and Hi-5 ghost sat at the coffee shop.

"It's not like Eileen to miss her shifts like this." Margaret complained, getting up to fetch a uniform when Eileen herself burst through the door.

"Eileen, you're here! Where's Rigby?" Hi-5 ghost asked. Eileen looked like she was about to say something, but then stopped.

"What's wrong?" Margaret asked, concerned. The mole simply took her place behind the counter and began to wipe it.

"Are you just not going to talk?" Hi-5 ghost asked. When Eileen looked up, there were tears in her eyes. Margaret rushed over to comfort her.

"It was awful. The Skull Master—he's after me! Rigby and I barely got away, but then we got separated. I haven't seen him since." The mole cried.

"You mean to say that Skull Master has Rigby?" Hi-5's asked.

"I don't know! He was really resourceful during the time that we were together, and I wouldn't have gotten away without him. I think that he's probably fine and still alive and kicking." Eileen said, wiping her eyes.

"We better hope so. Come on, let's tell Skips." Hi-5's said, and the three of them left the coffee shop.

…

"Hey, Skips. We're here." Carson said, through the walkie-talkie. A voice responded, belonging to the muscular yeti:

"Alright. Are Jeremy and Mordecai with you?"

"Yeah, they're here." Carson responded as Mordecai walked over.

"Good. Anything there at the location?" Skips asked.

"No, not as far as we can tell. Perhaps the Skull Master just wanted to send us on a wild goose chase." Mordecai responded, grabbing the walkie-talkie from Carson.

"How very odd. Why would the Skull Master fake coordinates with no purpose but to stall for time?" Skips responded through the walkie-talkie.

"Um—guys…." Jeremy whimpered.

"Not now, Jeremy. We're trying to figure this out." Carson responded, eyes fixed on the walkie-talkie.

"But…er…guys—" Jeremy began again, before Mordecai cut him off.

"In a second, Jeremy. Carson and I are talking to Skips." The blue jay said. There was a crunching noise which caused Mordecai and Carson to look up.

"Um—I think I know why the Skull Master faked those coordinates." Carson whimpered.

…

"Carson! Mordecai! Can you hear me! HELLO?!" the yeti screamed, yelling at his walkie-talkie.

"Skips, you won't believe this! We just found Eileen and—" Hi-5's began before he noticed a shadowy figure behind the yeti.

"Look out!" Margaret cried, which caused Skips to turn around and spot the figure. It took a swing at him, but the yeti evaded and countered with a floor-sweep, knocking the figure off-balance. Margaret proceeded to rush forwards and tackle the assailant, while it was off-guard. When the red bird got off, the figure seemed to be stunned. While it was staying still, Margaret and Skips got a clear look at the infiltrator…

"Garret Bobby Ferguson Jr.! But how?!" Skips cried out, confused.

"That's right, employees. I teamed up with the Skull Master to help exact my revenge on this stupid park." GBF Jr. laughed.

"You and the Skull Master are going down! Our group of Anti-Skulls outnumbers you!" Hi-5 ghost blurted out.

"Oh, do you? You see, now Skull Master has a team-the Super Skulls. And we most certainly outmatch you nerds." The bearded man laughed.

"But—you're dead!" Eileen pointed out.

"Oh, death is nothing I couldn't handle….or should I say 'WAS' nothing I couldn't handle." The man laughed, before pulling out a gun.

"Death! What'd you Super-Skulls do to him?!" Skips said.

"You'll all find out soon enough. Now, if you don't wish to be shot, you will let me leave." The bearded face laughed as he backed out of Skips shed. Once he was a safe distance from the Anti-Skulls, GBF Jr.'s shoes emitted blue flames and he quickly jetted off into the sky. After that was over, Don and Doug entered the room.

"So, er, what'd we miss?" Don asked, observing the looks upon everyone in the shed.

…

"Run FASTER, dude!" Mordecai cried out as he and Carson fled from their would-be captors.

"Run all you like, babies, you ain't no match for the Super Skulls!" Muscle Man squealed, as he drove his motorcycle towards the birds.

"I can't believe they got Jeremy." Carson panted, before tripping. Muscle Man squealed his delight as Mordecai helped the tall, brown bird to his feet. The two birds looked towards the motorcycle and realized it was too late—Muscle Man had caught up.

"You know, Muscle Man, you have a bad habit of betraying me." Mordecai growled, faintly remembering how the plump, green man tried to eliminate him during the Skull Master's first attack.

"Oops, what can I say?! The winning side is always the BOMB!" He squealed, as he pulled a gun out.

"Muscle Man-don't. You were an Anti-Skull too, once upon a time! You don't belong with the…er…what was your team name again?" Carson questioned.

"We're the Super Skulls, you Anti-Dorkwads." Muscle Man laughed, before aiming the gun. The birds exchanged a worried look, before Mordecai thought of something.

"You know who else is an Anti-Dorkwad. YOUR MOM!" the blue jay cried out. Muscle Man's hand quivered, shaking the gun. Carson caught on quickly.

"You know who else is a Super Skull?! YOUR MOM!" the brown bird yelled. Both birds were stalling at this point.

"Don't speak trash about my mom!" Muscle Man squealed, dropping the gun and climbing off the motorcycle.

"Ohhhhhh! Baby Mitch can't take a little heat!" Mordecai taunted. Muscle Man rolled up his sleeves, while his nostrils flared.

"Aw, is Baby Mitch mad again?" Carson teased, speaking as if he were speaking to a toddler.

"I. AM NOT A BABY!" Muscle Man squealed, before charging straight towards Mordecai. Carson easily tackled Muscle Man, and pinned him to the ground.

"Poor, poor Baby Mitch." Carson sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm not sure Mitch is the helpless baby. You might want to check again." A new voice said. Techmo stepped forth from the shadows and pressed a bunch of buttons on his robotic arm. Muscle Man grinned, as the ground began to shake.

"Carson, hop on!" Mordecai cried out, as he drove the motorcycle that Muscle Man had gotten off of. Carson let go of Muscle Man and got into the backseat of the motorcycle as the duo drove off. Tentacles began to emerge from the ground, each one seemingly trying to grab the birds. When enough tentacles grabbed the wheels of the bike, the birds got off and continued on foot. A tentacle latched onto Mordecai's ankle and brought him to the ground.

"Mordecai, no!" Carson yelled, going back to help his friend.

"Dude, save yourself! I'll find a way to get out of this!" the blue jay hollered as more tentacles wrapped around his body, sticking him on the ground.

Carson swore under his breath, before he pulled out a gun and aimed towards Mordecai.

"Um…no, no, no, that won't be necessary! Where'd you even get that?!" the bird trembled. Carson pulled the trigger.

…

The two birds continued to run, now that Carson had shot the tentacles off of Mordecai. Carson continued to shoot the tentacles as they rose from the ground.

"It's weird. One bullet and the tentacle just shrivels up and dies." Mordecai grinned.

"It's a good thing, otherwise, you'd be long gone by now." Carson panted before running straight into a figure. The two beings tumbled over each other, until Mordecai helped Carson up and saw who tripped the brown bird in the first place.

"Rigby?" Mordecai whispered.

"What's happening?!" The raccoon cried, but Mordecai didn't give him time to answer. Instead, the blue jay grabbed the raccoon and placed him under his arm and the two birds were running again. Rigby, meanwhile, seemed to be displeased due to being placed in Mordecai's armpit.

"I can't run for much longer." Carson said, sweat dripping off his forehead.

"You won't need too!" a warm voice called out. The two birds looked up and saw a helicopter, containing the muscular yeti. Skips threw a rope ladder down. Mordecai threw Rigby up onto the ladder, before jumping onto it himself. When both of them were in, they helped Carson get into the helicopter as well. The vehicle flew off, leaving the tentacle-infested area.

…

Once the helicopter had landed in the park and everyone had gotten out, all eyes were on Rigby.

"What?" the raccoon asked, fidgeting.

"Are you sure you're not a Super-Skull now for some odd reason? Did you get brainwashed, like Muscle Man and Chad?" Carson inquired.

"What? Brainwash? No! I nearly did but then Techmo saved me!" Rigby grinned.

"Techmo was the one that summoned the tentacles, dummy." Mordecai sighed, backing away from his former best friend.

"What? But he told me that…I'm so confused right now." Rigby whimpered.

"If only Death were here. Then we could find out if Rigby was actually…er…Rigby." Skips sighed.

"Oh, yeah, that's Rigby." Doug pointed out, as he walked up.

"See? Doug knows I'm not an impostor." Rigby said, triumphantly.

"But you could still be brainwashed." Mordecai said, cautiously. Don walked up, seemingly knowing what the situation was.

"Rigby, look at me." Don said, holding his older brother in place.

"N-no! Let go of me!" Rigby protested, as Don kept his calm. When Rigby stopped struggling and looked Don in the eyes, he was released.

"Oh, yeah, that's Rigby…and his eyes don't have that 'brainwashed' look. I can tell because I've seen Rigby brainwashed before when we were kids." Don laughed, warmly.

"Alright. I guess we can let him back into our group." The muscular yeti admitted.

"Can somebody explain what's happening?" Rigby asked.

"Where's Jeremy?" Skips noticed.

"Let's go into the shed. It's a long story of what just happened…" Mordecai sighed. With that, the group left.

…

After the whole impostor incident, Benson had been laying low. Why would somebody wish to impersonate him? Benson, troubled, looked out his window, hoping for some relaxing scenery. When his mind cleared, a thought occurred to him. Not much work was getting done at the park with the whole Anti-Skull business. Nobody ran the snack shed while they were in Skips's shed. Nobody raked leaves while they were collecting traces. Nobody did anything. Well, no longer. Benson decided to return to the park as soon as possible and assume his position of being the boss. The gumball machine did not know that this decision would impede the Anti-Skulls progress. The gumball machine did not know what disastrous consequences awaited.

(Side Note: And that ends our second chapter! This chapter has been brought to you by Mc! What's going to happen to Jeremy? What exactly happened when Mordecai and Carson lost connection with Skips—and what impact will it have? What's the deal with Techmo? Once more, some of these questions will be answered in the next chapter, once more, if there is a next chapter. Seriously. I need reviews/comments/input!)


	5. Jeremy's Last Stand

"Don't worry, this will only hurt a li'l bit." The voice said, accented lightly. Jeremy's vision began to clear as he woke up. Once the white bird had shaken the cobwebs off of his mind, he looked around to find his captor, and found his eyes upon Chad, Muscle Man, and somebody else, who was further back than the others. In the room's dim lighting, the third captor's shape was merely a blob and no features were able to be seen.

"So, what do you wish to do to me?" the white bird asked, keeping calm and observing his surroundings. Perhaps there might be a way to escape or something.

"We're going to give you the honor of serving the master!" Muscle Man squealed, obviously excited.

"The master? You mean the Skull Master, don't you?" Jeremy sighed.

"You've got it, best friend. I'm so glad that in a few moments, you'll be on our side as well." Chad smiled, stepping forwards.

"Chad, you've got some nerve joining the Skull Master…and I assure you, I will not suffer the same fate willingly." Jeremy scowled. The white bird's body was still aching, and he was in no physical condition to began running away. There were no visible doorways or windows either. Just where was this place?

"Ah, Jeremy, you don't have to be willing. The operation will enlighten you as it has done to me." Chad grinned, before he pulled out a taser.

"Oh, great. I get woken up only to be tased, huh?" Jeremy sighed. He noted that this would be a great time for the Anti-Skulls to bust in and rescue him. But, it was apparent that nobody was coming.

"Well, that depends. You can either willingly come with us or we can deprive you of consciousness until we get to the operation room. You decide." The third figure said, the voice belonging to the Skull Master.

"You don't need to electrocute me. I'll come." Jeremy spoke, through gritted teeth. He could escape while they were escorting him…or he could simply stall for as long as he could. Either way, the white bird was determined to not undergo the 'operation.'

"I'm glad you're being sensible about this. COMPUTER! Transport to D7!" the Skull Master yelled. Jeremy was growing curious to see what the Skull Master's body looked like. The white bird took a step closer to the blobby shape, when the wall opened, revealing a small capsule.

"There's our elevator." Chad smiled. Jeremy found himself being shoved in before he could formulate a plan. Instantly, the doors closed, leaving Jeremy alone in the elevator. The small capsule began to move shakily, for what seemed like forever. When the doors, or the wall of another room, opened, Jeremy found himself face-to-face with a small, floating bearded face.

"Hm? You're the new recruit? You don't seem like much." GBF Jr. sighed. Jeremy looked around and saw this new room to be well-lit and filled with tools piled upon shelves. In the center was a small steel table, elevated above the ground. There were leather straps upon it, clearly meant to keep the patient still while the operation was underway.

"I take it you wish me to get upon that table?" Jeremy asked, sarcastically.

"Indeed. You best go before we have to use force." GBF Jr. stated.

"Alright…but I'm just a drop in the bucket for the Anti-Skulls. We'll have you begging for mercy soon, and whatever you do to me shall be undone. Perhaps you and your 'Super-Skulls' should just surrender." Jeremy sighed.

"Silly, silly bird. The Anti-Skulls are already doomed…we have infiltrated them with a spy." GBF Jr. laughed.

Jeremy stopped to think about the current scenario he was facing. Then, he saw it—a bottle of Aymitophin, just like the one from his university's chemistry lab. Jeremy knew he had one shot, and formulated a plan using his genius intellect. The white bird punched GBF Jr. in the eye, stunning him. Then, he darted towards the Aymitophin and secured it within his hand.

"You're making a mistake, little birdie." GBF Jr. snarled.

"If you refuse to surrender, it is not I making the mistake." Jeremy taunted, before slamming the Aymitophin upon the ground. A pink gas filled the room, while Jeremy formed a tight clamp around his beak using his hands. Closing his eyes to avoid tearing up, Jeremy couldn't see anything and could only hear the pained wails of his former captor. The wall opened, revealing the small capsule once more. The gas began to clear up as Chad threw a counter chemical to the floor.

"Jeremy…where are you naughty, bird? There's no escape." Chad called out, now that the room was clear of the gaseous toxin. GBF Jr. trembled upon the floor, whimpering.

"Goodbye, former friend." Jeremy stated. Chad turned around to see that Jeremy was in the capsule that Chad had been in moments before. The wall closed.

"COMPUTER! Transport…out of here!" Jeremy yelled.

"Unknown voice detected. Command overridden." A robotic voice responded. Jeremy gulped, now feeling fear. Putting on the best impression he could, Jeremy attempted to mimic the Skull Master's accented voice:

"COMPUTER! Transport outside." Jeremy said.

"Unknown voice detected. Command overridden." The robotic voice repeated. Jeremy realized that with both Techmo and Chad working for the Super-Skulls, the voice-recognition system must've been top-notch. There was one thing left to do. While the operating room was full of the Aymitophin gaseous toxin, Jeremy had pocketed a few more tools from the shelves. Such as a scrambler, probably to be used in case a piece of tech in the room went wrong. Jeremy slapped the scrambler to the side of the capsule and heard something click. In a second, the capsule was enveloped in absolute darkness. When the bird's eyes adjusted, he grinned, having deprived power from the capsule. It wouldn't let anyone in…or out. The white bird then pulled out another tool pocketed from the shelves. A laser gun powered by a Muroneuron fuel cell, rendering it incredibly powerful. Jeremy used it and vaporized some of the capsule, revealing wires and flashing switches.

"Well, Jeremy. Time to get hacking." The bird mumbled to himself as he remembered everything from the university's tech class.

…

"Alright, so it started with the cages. We kid you not, cages fell from the sky, large enough to house a lion! Carson and I were standing in a blindspot of the trap, given we were next to each other while we talked to you. Jeremy, who had seen the cages, tried to notify us, but it was too late. He got caught in one. Powerful, colossal robots ambushed us, coming in from all around. Jeremy, doing all he could, threw rocks at one. It easily lifted up his cage and crushed him, letting us hear a sickening crunching noise. Carson dropped the walkie-talkie in shock and we were prepared to run. When you began shouting our names from the shed, the robots heard the noise and must've thought the walkie-talkie was you because it was emitting your voice. Obviously, they weren't very bright. One stomped on it and it…er…exploded and damaged the robots. We began to run when Muscle Man showed up on a motorcycle." Mordecai explained to the muscular yeti.

"Okay, thanks for telling me. And the robots were all damaged by the explosion?" Skips confirmed. The blue jay nodded.

"Mordecai came up with a great plan after we got caught and we disabled Muscle Man. Then, Techmo did something and a bunch of tentacles rose from the ground. That's when we ran into Rigby. Shortly after, you came and rescued us with that helicopter of yours." Carson concluded.

"Rigby, now you tell your side of the story." Skips said. The raccoon stepped forwards.

"Well, Techmo was there and he said that he had rescued me. It was apparent that he was no longer possessed. I was to stay in a safehouse, which was a small shed. When I got hungry and there was no food, I figured a short trip out wouldn't harm anyone. Besides, the Skull Master didn't know I was there, so I thought I'd be safe. That's when the tentacles began rising from the ground. I ran and saw Mordecai and Carson close by. I ran into them, and then you pulled up in a helicopter." Rigby sighed.

"Why would the safehouse to hide from the Skull Master be so close to the fake coordinates?" Skips inquired, confused.

"Don't ask me, I didn't do it!" Rigby said.

"Thanks, you three. Rigby, Mordecai, you're dismissed. Carson, I'd like to talk to you." The yeti said. Once the blue jay and the raccoon had left, Carson was most confused.

"Carson, you and Mordecai are the only people I trust right now. If I told Mordecai why, he would've blurted it out to Rigby. I trust you can keep a secret?" Skips asked.

"Sure, boss. But, why the sudden distrust in the rest of the Anti-Skulls excluding me and Mordecai?" Carson asked.

"I believe we have an infiltrator. A confidential file from my shed was stolen earlier…and nobody had access to get even close to it except for the Anti-Skulls and a few allies of ours." Skips said.

"I don't know about that. Remember GBF Jr.? He snuck in here and you didn't notice." Carson pointed out.

"That's WHY the Anti-Skulls were the only ones with access. After the break-in, the file was still here. I increased the security, but you wouldn't notice because you're registered as an Anti-Skull. If the new system didn't recognize you, you'd be dead right now." Skips stated. Carson looked around the shed, feeling suddenly unsafe.

"Who do you suspect?" Carson asked.

"I don't know. There may even be more than one infiltrator! Also, one of us may even be the Skull Master! Remember, he has a new body, because Techmo is no longer possessed." Skips said, bluntly.

"Alright, I'll tell you if I see anything unusual…" Carson noted. The tall, brown bird walked out of the shed, feeling unusually paranoid.

…

"I'm so happy that we can get together like this again." Margaret said, handing a coffee to Mordecai.

"It's nice to know that all of us are safe and not brainwashed." Rigby grinned, as Eileen walked up.

"The four of us used to gather here all the time, when times were simpler." The mole laughed.

"Yeah, if only things weren't so weird right now." Mordecai sighed, taking a sip.

"Well, at least you're safe after you walked into that trap. I thought I might never see you again when Skips told me he had lost contact with you and Carson." The red bird sighed, rubbing her shoulders.

"Same here, Eileen. After we got separated, I got knocked out cold! When I came to, my first thought was about your whereabouts." Rigby grinned.

"Luckily, we're both safe." Eileen smiled back. Carson strolled in casually, and took a seat next to Mordecai.

"Hey, guys. None of you are feeling infiltrator-ish, right, ha?" Carson said, awkwardly. After receiving blank stares, the tall brown bird got up and casually strolled out of the coffee shop. Once outside, Carson slapped himself in the face. But the brown bird realized he probably had all the time in the world to investigate to find the infiltrator. After all, since Benson was currently out, the Anti-Skulls were able to work 24/7.

…

Benson sped towards the park in his rusty car. Mr. Maellard, Benson's boss, would surely fire the gumball machine if the park wasn't living up to high standards. Benson parked, got out and walked in, his face red in anger at how not one person decided to work in his absence. The whole 'Skull-Master' conflict was just a setback in his eyes. And he intended to eliminate all mention or practice of the Anti-Skulls.

…

"Hey, Benson! Feeling better?" Carson asked nervously, spotting the gumball machine. Benson didn't bother to respond, instead he headed straight for Skips's shed.

"Carson, is that you?" a friendly voice asked. The tall, brown bird turned around to see Thomas, the goat.

"Thomas…you're working at the park? Where have you been?" Carson asked, staring in shock at the goat.

"Oh, I don't do much around here anyways. I just took some time off…not like anyone noticed." The goat laughed bitterly.

"Listen, I need you to stall Benson. I have some…investigating to do. Have you seen Doug or Don around?" Carson asked.

"Yeah, they're near the snack bar." Thomas said.

"Thanks! Don't forget to stall Benson! Try not to let him reach Skips's shed!" Carson grinned, as he ran towards the snack bar. The goat sprinted towards Skips's shed, given that was the only location that Carson had mentioned.

…

The muscular yeti was too absorbed in his work to notice a very, very angry gumball machine approaching. If one were to look out the window of the shed, they would notice Benson walking quickly to scold the yeti for not keeping the park in shape. If one were to continue looking out the window, they would notice a goat tackle the gumball machine seemingly for no good reason.

…

Carson thought to himself as he walked towards the snack bar, having stopped running due to the unnecessary exertion. The infiltrator could be Margaret…Skull Master was targeting her. Perhaps Margaret was captured and converted into a Super-Skull, only to be returned later to work undercover. Maybe it was Doug? That mongoose was doing a lot outside of the Anti-Skulls, and could've been captured while doing something. Don, perhaps? Don hadn't done anything but identify Rigby...which could've been a set-up because perhaps BOTH Rigby and Don were infiltrators. The possibilities were infinite, so Carson determined that he had to obtain some solid proof.

…

"Hey, Carson. Give me some sugar!" Don grinned as the tall, brown bird strolled near. The two hugged casually, and then they took a seat at a table.

"So, why are you here?" Doug sighed, getting to the point.

"I have news. From the Skull Master." Carson said, formulating a plan to get the infiltrator to confess.

"How'd you get that?" Doug asked, confused.

"A little bird told me. Anyways, he says he needs EVERY one of his Super-Skulls to attend a meeting at the old, abandoned ballroom in three hours. He said this was short-notice and that not all of the Super-Skulls would know of this event." Carson said, as his plan came together.

"The abandoned ballroom, eh? Should we crash it and stop the Super-Skulls?" Don inquired.

"No. Since the Skull-Master told me, it was probably a trap for us Anti-Skulls. I think only a Super-Skull could enter and exit unscathed." Carson said.

"Right, then. So just sit and do nothing?" Doug confirmed.

"Yes. To remain not captured, we Anti-Skulls MUST NOT attend." Carson sighed.

"Gotcha. So why even tell us?" Doug asked.

"Well, I had to tell somebody! The Skull Master confronted me and told me just so he could…um…TAUNT me with how much more organized the Super-Skulls were. He tried to get me to surrender. When I didn't, he fled." Carson said.

"What'd his new body look like?" Don inquired.

"Um…I didn't get a good look at it. He kind of appeared and disappeared, and it was late at night." Carson said. Then, the tall, brown bird left hoping that Doug and Don didn't notice all the holes in the story. Once he was gone, Doug and Don turned to each other.

"That sure sounded fishy. As if he was TRYING to get us to walk into a trap at the ballroom." Doug sighed.

"You don't think that Carson is working with the Skull Master, do you?" Don asked.

"Hm. So I'm not the only one." Doug replied.

"We have to tell Skips that Carson is a spy!" Don said, feeling the need to take action.

…

Carson walked into the coffee shop and told the same story to everyone there. The plan was simple; whoever showed up at the ballroom was a Super-Skull. The tall, brown bird knew it was flawed, but it was his best hope of discovering the infiltrator.

…

"GET OFF OF ME!" Benson yelled, to which Thomas obeyed. The goat knew that if he persisted then he would've been fired. However, Thomas had stalled the gumball machine long enough. Skips had noticed the fight between the two and was now prepared. When the gumball machine walked in to scold Skips about being more focused on the Skull-Master than work, he noticed that there was no evidence of the Skull Master even existing within the shed.

"What'd you want? I was just about to go run the snack bar." Skips grumbled, lying.

"Oh. I thought that yo-" Benson began, before Skips showed him out so that the two could continue the conversation outside…

…

"Any new information for me, my undercover ally?" the Skull Master spoke. The answer was a 'yes,' which pleased the Skull Master immensely. It was almost time to put sweet, sweet revenge into action…

(SIDE NOTE: And that wraps up Chapter 3! Did Jeremy successfully reprogram the capsule or did he fail and get caught? Who can this infiltrator be? And how will things change now that Benson is back?! Some of these questions shall be answered next chapter[if there is a next chapter]. This chapter brought to you by 'Anon!' Remember, reviews = chapters! )


	6. A Safe Place

"With Benson back, we must make sure the Anti-Skull objective is now a secret. If not, he will do anything in his power to stop us…and that could end horribly." The yeti told his observant fellow Anti-Skulls.

"Secret? Awesome! So, we're like…a super organization of talented super spies that the whole world doesn't know about! Just like the movies!" Rigby grinned, approving of the new change. Skips shot him a look and Rigby's grin dissipated quickly.

"All of you have applied for a job as I required yesterday, I hope. You must now all take shifts working." The muscular yeti instructed, scanning the crowd to see the reactions. A bunch of blank stares were received.

"So, just like old times." Hi-5 ghost laughed.

"Hey, Skips? Where's Carson?" Mordecai asked, noting his friend was gone.

"He's…on a special mission." Skips replied, hesitantly.

"Why does Carson get the SPECIAL mission?" Rigby whined.

"Because he's a spy and Skips has sent him away for good!" Don replied, firmly.

"A spy? There's no way a spy could've infiltrated the Anti-Skulls!" Margaret protested, before receiving a bunch of strange looks.

"Great. I just joined this 'club' yesterday, and we've already got a spy?" Eileen sighed. In a second, the shed was abuzz in shock.

"No! Carson is not a spy! Doug and Don voiced their concerns to me very recently! I told them I'd look into it, which I did. Carson is most certainly NOT a Super Skull!" Skips yelled, trying to silence everyone.

"If he's not a spy, then why the heck was he acting so strangely?" Doug asked.

"Because YOU'RE the spy!" Skips replied, grabbing the mongoose and holding him in the air by the neck. Doug began to choke. Skips then turned to everyone within the shed.

"And not just Doug. ANYONE in here can be the spy! I was hoping to keep this secret as to not alert the infiltrator that we know about them, but if I didn't speak up, one of you was going to interrupt Carson's mission to find out who it is!" Skips said, setting Doug down. The mongoose appreciated the oxygen.

"So…anyone of us can be a spy?" Mordecai uttered, feeling a chill run through his body.

"Whoever's a Super Skull, you're outnumbered. It was a dumb idea to try to get the scoop on us, because we're going to beat the living heck out of you!" Rigby taunted, trying to sound intimidating. The fear in his voice was incredibly obvious.

"What's this talk about skulls?" a new voice said, yelling through the shed. Skips opened the door to the shed, only to find himself staring at Benson.

"I was just shutting down the whole…Anti-Skull operation." Skips mumbled, nervously.

"I was walking by and I heard Rigby saying something about a skull…probably related to Skull Master and your whole Anti-Skull business. I've had enough. You better not be lying when you said you were shutting it down." Benson growled, his face red.

"Yeah, no more Anti-Skull business. It's not like our lives are at stake or anything." Margaret forcibly said before laughing the most artificial laugh one's ear could hear.

"Even IF your lives are at stake, the cops can handle it. It's just one guy." Benson sighed, before walking away.

"No, it's not! He has Muscle Man!" Hi-5 ghost blurted out. Everyone responded with a glare.

"Then call the cops and report him for kidnapping." Benson said, shaken up by this news.

"We can't. He'll kill them!" Margaret protested.

"Or add them to his army." Eileen mumbled.

"Let's hope it's not an army yet." Skips replied.

"Okay, then. Don't call the cops! But now that I've officially shut down the Anti-Skulls, you may as well figure out what to do…as long as it doesn't involve the park or its employees!" Benson roared. The gumball machine walked away and Skips closed the garage.

"Okay, we're going to be have to be more quiet." The yeti whispered.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Rigby yelled, on impulse. The shed fell silent and footsteps were heard. There was a small _thud _on the door of the shed.

"Benson's listening." Skips whispered, as quietly as he could.

"What?!" Don said, rather loudly. The large raccoon hated being confused, and when he couldn't hear what Skips was saying, he got confused.

"I SAID THAT THE ANTI-SKULLS HAVE NOW DISBANDED PERMANENTLY. NOW EVERYONE GO OUT AND DO YOUR JOB." Skips said, being purposely loud. There was the sound of footsteps once more, this time growing fainter. Once Benson had gone, the muscular yeti opened the garage shed door and dismissed the meeting.

…

"Jeremy?!" the tall, brown bird cried out, spotting the white bird crumpled upon the ground. Dead tentacles littered the ground. Carson had gone to the sight of the trap to try and get some knowledge upon the Super-Skulls and the possible infiltrator. Instead, he found Jeremy.

"C-Carson. Get out of here….not…safe." the white bird groaned. Instead, Carson picked his friend up and decided to head towards a hospital.

"Did he get you—are you a Super Skull now?" Carson asked casually as he made his way towards the nearest hospital, with Jeremy slung over his shoulder.

"Close. I…es…caped." Jeremy muttered, with Carson uncertain if this was the truth or not. The tall, brown bird wondered if he had made the wrong choice by rescuing Jeremy. Either way, if Jeremy had actually escaped, Carson couldn't leave him as a sitting duck.

"You're going to have to tell me everything." Carson sighed, trudging until the faint resemblance of a city showed up on the horizon. Jeremy opened his mouth to speak, but then slowly closed it.

"…" the white bird said.

"I can't hear you, you have to speak up." Carson said, hoping that Jeremy's story would be believable. When the tall, brown bird thought he was feeling drool from Jeremy roll down his back, he shuddered and set the white bird down.

"I understand you're wounded and all, but that's just gross." Carson pointed out, before gasping. No saliva rolled from Jeremy's beak. Instead, it was drops of blood. Carson quickly picked Jeremy up once more and sped up towards the hospital.

…

"A spy in the Anti-Skulls? Who could it be?" Margaret asked, feeling paranoid, even around her friends.

"I don't know…but, I promise it's not me." Mordecai laughed, feeling Margaret place her hands on top of his.

"Good. Last time, I was his…pawn. His tool. Promise not to let him catch me again." The red bird whispered to the blue jay.

"I...I…no promises." Mordecai sighed, feeling awkward. Margaret's face showed obvious sadness.

"Don't worry, Margaret. If the Skull Master wanted you, he'd have gotten you by now." Eileen laughed, as if it were funny.

"Don't even joke about that! He already tried to get you guys." Mordecai said, raising his voice.

"Jeez, Mordecai. Lighten up!" Eileen giggled.

"Are you feeling alright?" Margaret asked, confused.

"Yeah. Just…a bit scared." The mole sighed.

"We're all scared." Mordecai said, quietly.

"MORDECAI! GET BACK TO WORK!" Benson screamed once he spotted the blue jay and the girls.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, I got…distracted!" Mordecai responded, hopping to his feet and running off.

"You two! Aren't you supposed to be working at the coffee shop?!" Benson inquired, staring at Margaret and Eileen.

"Nah, there's this new employee and it's his shift." Margaret smiled.

"Good. The last thing this world needs is more slackers." The gumball machine sighed, before walking away.

"You know…Margaret, if you're that scared, I know of a place where we can hide." Eileen sighed.

"Where you know for certain the Skull Master won't find us?" Margaret asked, interested.

"Yes. But, you can't tell anybody because the location is absolutely secret!" Eileen said.

"Right. And we have an infiltrator, so if he or she caught word of this 'place…'" Margaret trailed off.

"We can hide there between our missions. That way, we'll be safe for sure!" Eileen grinned.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan. Lead the way, Eileen." Margaret smiled warmly, getting up from the wooden bench that she had been sitting on.

"Alright. Let's go." Eileen sighed, and she walked ahead of the red bird.

…

Rigby was tired of raking leaves. Since when did he have to work and Mordecai get to slack?! Rigby thought that he himself should slack if his blue jay friend was slacking. The raccoon let go of the rake and headed towards the coffee shop, hoping to talk to Eileen. After all, the raccoon was still curious about what she did while he was in Techmo's custody.

"Hey, big bro! Give me some sugar!" Don smiled as Rigby walked by the snack bar.

"Ha, Don! Working the snack bar!" Rigby grinned. Now his all-too-respected brother had to work in the same dead-end job!

"Yeah, but saving our lives and free will from the Skull Master is worth having to do some low-skill park work." Don sighed.

"Oh, did you see where Eileen went?" Rigby asked.

"Er…yeah, she went that way!" Don grinned, pointing.

"That way? But the coffee shop is the other way!" Rigby noted.

"Meh. She might also be on a 'special' mission like Carson." Don joked. Rigby, offended by this possibility, dropped to all-fours and ran in the direction that Don had pointed too.

"She's only been with us for like…a day! And she thinks that she can just automatically handle a special mission! How stupid can Skips be to allow her to do so?" Rigby mumbled to himself, before speeding up. If Eileen was on a special mission, then Rigby figured he would have to simply tag along.

…

"How's Jeremy?" Skips asked when the tall, brown bird known as Carson walked into the shed.

"He was pretty bad when I found him. I wanted to leave him in the hospital's custody, but I saw Chad talking to the receptionist before I went into the hospital, thanks to the windows. That's when I decided if Jeremy had escaped, I couldn't risk him being returned to the Skull Master's custody. So I put him in a secret location, where some medic bots are taking care of him." Carson explained.

"Where'd you get a hold of medical robots?" Skips asked.

"Hm? I found them on a garage sale the day before I went to the location of the fake coordinates with Mordecai and Jeremy." Carson said.

"CARSON! Skull Master was active then, he could've hacked into the medic bots or something!" Skips protested.

"True…he is a great technomancer. And if he somehow hacked the medic bots before I brought them back to the park…" Carson began.

"We have to go check on Jeremy." Skips sighed. The two left the shed.

…

"I'm worried about Muscle Man." Hi-5 ghost told Doug, as the two sat by a lake.

"Don't worry 'bout him, we'll fix 'im eventually." Doug grinned.

"Hey, guys! Did you see where Eileen went?" Rigby asked, as he approached.

"Um…yeah. She went into Shimmering Leaf Meadows." Doug sighed.

"Where's that?" Rigby asked, baffled.

"Other side of this lake. You'll have to go around." Hi-5 ghost explained. Rigby groaned. How far ahead did Eileen get?! The raccoon sprinted on all-fours again.

"Wanna see what he's up to with Eileen and Margaret in Shimmering Leaf Meadows?" Hi-5 ghost inquired to Doug.

"Oh, most certainly." The mongoose said, deviously. With that, Hi-5 ghost picked up his mongoose friend and floated over the lake, heading towards the other side.

…

Benson was pleased. With all the former Anti-Skulls now park employees, things were on a record rate of productivity. He finally had willing and responsible workers, with the exception of Mordecai and Rigby.

"Hey, Benson. Can I take my break now?" the blue jay asked his boss.

"You just took a break." The gumball machine sighed.

"I know, I know, but Don has done most of the chores and the other workers have basically cleared today's agenda…" Mordecai began to speak, before Benson held up a hand to silence the bird.

"Fine, take a break. But only because I'm in a good mood. The park's never been cleaner!" Benson said, happily. The blue jay walked off and into Skips shed, but the yeti was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, Benson. You know where Skips is?" Mordecai asked, walking out of the shed.

"He and Carson headed off in that direction. Carson said something about Shimmering Leaf Meadows." Benson said.

"Thanks. Can I borrow the cart? Shimmering Leaf is a long ways away." Mordecai sighed.

"Just take it. But you'll have to do extra hours of work tomorrow." Benson warned.

"Sounds good by me." The blue jay smiled. Benson tossed him the keys.

…

Eileen paused, before calling out to the sky:

"EILEEN! ID 24-87-96!"

Almost instantly afterwards, a portal opened up.

"Holy crud Eileen, how did you do that?!" Margaret asked, in shock.

"I'll tell you later, come on!" Eileen said, seemingly in a hurry now.

"Wait—guys-" Rigby said, walking up, panting.

"Oh, hey there Rigby!" Margaret grinned.

"I knew we shouldn't have walked." Eileen mumbled.

"Why not? It gave Rigby time to catch up." Margaret pointed out. In response, Eileen shoved Margaret through the portal.

"WHAT THE-?!" Rigby screamed.

"Sorry, Rigby. I was the infiltrator all along. And Margaret belongs to us now." Eileen smiled, before she hopped through the portal herself. As the thing began to close, Carson emerged through the trees.

"Skips, can you stop that thing from closing?" the tall, brown bird asked, while Rigby ran up to it.

"Eileen, I won't let you do this!" Rigby screamed through it as it got smaller. The raccoon jumped through.

"Yeah, I can slow it down." Skips stated, solemnly. The yeti cracked his knuckles and reached into the pocket of his pants, before pulling out a folded wad of paper. Skips unfolded it and read an ancient language…and the portal began getting bigger instead of smaller.

"Amazing." Carson whispered.

"We're here to help!" Doug shouted, with Hi-5 ghost carrying him.

"Alright, go through! The spell doesn't last long!" Skips yelled. Everyone rushed into the portal.

…

One minute had passed, and Mordecai had just pulled up in the cart. The blue jay spotted the portal and approached it.

"Well...I guess Skips is in here. Better get my next mission." Mordecai said to himself, casually, before climbing through the portal as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

(SIDE NOTE: What's going to happen with most of the Anti-Skulls in Eileen's trap?! Who will escape, who will be converted?! How did Jeremy supposedly escape? Some of these questions shall be answered next chapter, if there is a next chapter. This chapter brought by a guest reviewer. Remember, reviews = guaranteed chapters!)


	7. Trapped

Don couldn't help but notice that it was now incredibly lonely at the park.

"Everyone was here yesterday, working hard. Now, I have to do most of it myself." Don complained, to nobody. The gumball machine walked up, with a similar perplexed look upon his face.

"Hey, Don. Do you know where everyone went? The park was running superbly when they were all working here!" Benson sighed.

"If I had to take a guess, then-I mean, no. I have no idea where everyone is." Don said, quieting down.

"Don. What're you not telling me?" the gumball machine inquired. The muscular raccoon continued working, pretending not to hear anything. Benson repeated himself, but Don did not listen. Finally, Benson's face began to redden.

"DON. TELL ME WHERE SKIPS AND THE EMPLOYEES ARE OR I'LL FIRE YOU!" Benson screamed, now fully interested in the well-being of his workers.

"They're dead." Don replied, bluntly.

"Be serious." The gumball machine stated, now feeling a sense of worry. Don just walked away.

"I quit." Don sighed, having a destination in mind; the place where the trap was. Where Mordecai, Jeremy, and Carson had been ambushed. The muscular raccoon knew that Benson probably didn't even care about the Skull Master.

"Fine, then, just leave and quit. You're just like Rigby." Benson said, loudly. The scene mirrored when Rigby had first quit his job and left to compete in the Skull Master's tournament. This time, instead of Rigby, it was Don. And unlike Rigby, Don turned around.

"I'd rather be just like Rigby than be anything like you." Don stated, bitterly. Benson was about to make a comeback, before he realized it would not help his case.

"Yesterday, you were so respectful. Now that everyone's gone, I guess you're letting your true colors show." Benson blurted out. Luckily, Don remained facing the gumball machine, and the muscular raccoon's face filled with sorrow.

"You're wrong. I'm not usually this bitter in public, but people like you deserve it. I'm worried about my big brother…I'm worried about Rigby. Skips, Mordecai, Rigby….they've worked for you for so long now! And now they're gone, potentially forever, and your thoughts are 'Gee, this park was so productive when they were here.' Maybe if you forgot about the park and looked at the reality of things, we wouldn't all dislike you. The Skull Master is back. He most likely has my friends right now, and you just don't care about them. You make me sick." Don concluded, firmly, making his point clear.

"You have it wrong…I didn't make the Anti-Skulls disband because I feared the park. I feared for them. You weren't here last time, Don. Things got dangerous…it's true I wasn't there for the final battle. But, just before, the Anti-Skulls were in no shape to do anything. I wasted some precious resources to heal them up as quickly as possible, nearly instantly. When they were healed, that's when they charged into the final battle, and I stayed behind. I don't have any more of that resource. I wasted all of it healing their mangled bodies last time…this time, I feared for their lives. I shut down the Anti-Skulls because I wanted them to live. I knew that Skull Master probably had Muscle Man when it was confirmed that Skull Master had returned. I didn't want to lose anyone else." Benson confessed.

"So…you care about the employee's safety?" Don inquired, interested.

"Yes. I don't want anyone hurt or…worse." The gumball machine sighed.

"Then, you'll help us take down the Skull Master so NOBODY has to be harmed by him ever again. The best thing you can do to help the people you care about is to join the Anti-Skulls. You have to help me find Rigby and the others." Don said. Benson looked conflicted.

"I wished not to get involved in this. But, he's taken all of my workers. Alright, Don, let's go find our friends." Benson smiled, forcibly. The large raccoon grinned, in respect.

"Thanks, Benson! Now give me some sugar!" Don said, happily.

…

**One Day Ago**

Mordecai climbed through the portal within Shimmering Leaf Meadows casually, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"EILEEN! You were supposed to bring them one at a time so we could gradually take down the Anti-Skulls from within!" Chad exclaimed, staring at Eileen and the rest of the Anti-Skulls.

"I'm sorry, sir! I planned to bring Margaret, but then Rigby showed up and stalled us for a minute or two. I thought we could handle a small conflict against Margaret and Rigby, but after the three of us came—the rest of the Anti-Skulls somehow showed up! I don't know how they delayed the portal's closing sequence!" Eileen said, defending her mistake.

Mordecai turned around, noting that the portal was STILL open.

"You're outnumbered. Give up." Skips said, towering above Eileen and Chad.

"Imbecile. You're the big leader of the thing we're up against?! I thought we'd have more of a challenge." Chad growled, before yelling: "COMPUTER! Operation Intruder Slayer! ID 72-31-94!"

Instantly, the portal closed and the room began to quake.

"What'd you do?!" Mordecai asked, scared.

"Oh, nothing. I just breathed some air, and said some words. Also, I initiated a sequence to kill everyone in this room." Chad said, casually.

"But, you'll die too!" Margaret exclaimed.

"Our deaths are a mere price in comparison to taking out you wretched Anti-Skulls." Eileen happily said.

"Call it off!" Skips yelled, taking hold of Eileen and throwing her across the room.

"No can do." Eileen gasped, with a twisted grin upon her face. Rigby paused. During the final battle against the Skull Master, Mordecai had used to power of love to empower Margaret. Margaret, fighting the Skull Master's control, allowed Yulon to get close enough to activate the counter nanochip(which ended up doing nothing.) That meant that the power of love might liberate Eileen from whatever the Skull Master had done to her, and in turn, cause her to call off the suicide sequence. The walls began folding in.

"Eileen. I never told you this before but-I LOVE YOU!" Rigby exclaimed.

"How pitiful. A horrible Anti-Skull professing his love for a divine Super-Skull? It's kind of funny when you think about it." Eileen sighed.

"Dude. I knew it." Mordecai grinned, making a silly face.

"Mordecai, not the time!" Rigby yelled.

"COMPUTER! Abort operation! ID 72-31-94!" Chad's voice called out…though Chad had not said anything. The walls had stopped closing in.

"What the—how did you?" Chad began to speak, before a second Chad walked up, with a smug look on his face.

"Sorry, Chad-O, but I couldn't stand to watch my fabulous face get crushed." Chad-2 grinned.

"It's Doug." Eileen growled.

"Right-O! And my imitation skills apparently confuse your computer…what can I say? I sound EXACTLY like you." Chad-2 smiled, watching as a look of horror passed over the real Chad's face.

"Alright, guys, let's escape! Like Jeremy did!" Carson smiled.

Skips knocked out Eileen and Chad, and held one under each arm.

"I'll see what we can do about these two." The muscular yeti said, blatantly.

"Hopefully we can save Eileen." Margaret said, softly.

"At least we were able to save you." Mordecai smiled. The two birds hugged.

"Skips, can you reopen that portal now that the sequence is off?" Carson asked, observing Mordecai and Margaret's tender moment with a strange look.

"Um…yeah, I'll see if I can." The yeti said, before pulling a second slip of paper out of his pocket. Once more, Skips read an ancient language. A portal opened.

"I'll go through first, to see if it's stable and safe." Carson sighed. It took ten seconds for the brown bird to realize Margaret was not going to acknowledge his bravery as she had done when he volunteered to walk into the trap. Carson gave a look of dismay to Skips and proceeded to walk through.

"Alright, let's go." Skips said, before Carson walked right back out of the portal.

"Um. The portal leads to itself, apparently." The tall, brown bird stated, awkwardly.

"The park must be too far away. My spell is too weak. If only I had time to prepare like Eileen did when she trapped us all here." Skips sighed. The wall opened, revealing a capsule. Muscle Man walked out.

"Hey, ladies. Remember me?" the green man grinned.

…

**Present Day**

"There's nothing here but dead tentacles." Benson said, blatantly.

"Apparently so. Sorry I made us drive all the way here." Don sighed.

"Skips said something about Shimmering Leaf Meadows before he went missing. Want to check that place out?" Benson asked.

"Wait! Carson gave me a location and told me if anything should happen to him, I should go." Don remembered.

"Where is it?" Benson inquired.

"I don't know, he just gave me an envelope." The tall raccoon sighed.

"Where is it?" Benson said once more.

"He told me to keep it in a place the Skull Master couldn't get to." Don began to say, before he trailed off.

"Where is it?" Benson repeated.

"In a safe." Don said.

"Where's the safe?" Benson asked.

…

"DUDE! WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO TRAVEL ACROSS THE GALAXY TO SOME PLANET I'VE NEVER HEARD OF?!" the gumball machine protested as Don searched through Rigby's closet.

"The planet's called Haymi. It's near the Namerian system." Don replied, with no emotion at all.

"Namera? Isn't that where Yulon is…I mean, was, from?" Benson realized.

"Yeah. Namera is in the center of the Namerian system. Haymi formed an alliance with the system of planets to keep the Skull Master out, ever since the Skull Master attacked Namera. Haymi, a small planet with few resources, formed the alliance just to get some Namerian support. This resulted in my favor, as I was able to hide the envelope there." Don explained, before finding what he was looking for.

"Why not just hide it on Namera itself?" the gumball machine asked.

"Because, that's a developed, huge, heavily populated planet that takes hours of paperwork to enter. Haymi, smaller, was easier to get access too." Don said, pulling a small keyboard out of the closet.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is." Benson groaned.

"Yeah, this is the keyboard that grants wishes if they rhyme." Don grinned.

"But I thought it was destroyed." Benson recalled.

"Time travel machines, bro. Rigby got one for incredibly cheap." Don explained.

"Time travel. I hate it." Benson sighed, in response. Don just began playing music.

"My safe, my safe, take me there! My safe, my safe, don't mess up my hair!" Don sang. In a second, Don and Benson were tearing across the galaxy…and beyond.

…

**One Day Ago**

"Muscle Man, you're outnumbered. Why even bother coming?" Mordecai spat.

"Because, ladies, I'm going to capture you!" Muscle Man smiled, before putting on a gas mask and throwing down a chemical. Pink gas began to fill the room.

"It's Aymitophin!" Skips cried out, before pressing the unconscious body of Chad to his nose and mouth. The yeti then closed his eyes to prevent the horrible sting.

Mordecai tackled Margaret, and shielded her face with his body. Mordecai kept his eyes closed and, with a free hand covered his beak. The gas penetrated through his feathery fingers and the blue jay felt the world begin to spin. Carson grabbed a gas mask off of a nearby shelf, and used his own body to protect Rigby. Sounds of thudding and scraping were heard. As the gas began to clear, Muscle Man dragging a shadowy figure away was seen. The wall closed and the capsule vanished. The gas continued to float around in the room, still clearing, but all too slowly. Carson bumped into the shelf, readjusting himself to better protect Rigby, and knocked a counter chemical off. The gas quickly dissipated.

"Who'd he grab?" Skips asked, dropping Chad. Margaret breathed softly, unconscious, and alone, near the wall.

Carson released Rigby and removed the gas mask.

"Where's Mordecai?" was the first thing the raccoon asked.

...

**Present Day**

"Here it is, Benson." Don said, as they approached the safe.

"Geez, you hid this well." The gumball machine said, in awe.

"Yep. Ready to find the location?" Don asked, as he opened it. The envelope was removed, and the tall raccoon carefully opened it.

"It's a set of coordinates." Benson sighed.

"We can go there using the keyboard. But, these coordinates look familiar." Don sighed. Benson walked close to the tall raccoon, and started playing music, while Don began to sing.

…

**One Day Ago**

Hi-5 ghost phased through the wall, and was nearly overwhelmed with how advanced the wiring was. Then, he spotted the capsule above. Floating, the ghost read a small plaque next to the capsule: A-9. The ghost then phased back into the room.

"A-9." The ghost stated.

"COMPUTER! Transport to A-9! ID 72-31-94!" Doug shouted, in Chad's voice. Instantly, the wall opened, revealing the capsule.

"Who wants to save Mordecai?" Skips asked.

"Wait, while I was up there, I saw another plaque…Z-0. I think it's the way out. Shouldn't we try to escape?" Hi-5 ghost asked.

"No way! We have to save Mordecai!" Rigby shouted.

"I don't know, Rigby. Maybe we should cut our losses and come back for him later." Carson sighed. Margaret was still knocked out.

"But then he'll become a Super-Skull! We can't let that happen!" the raccoon cried out.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way to save him. We have two test subjects to help us find a cure." Skips stated, holding up Eileen and Chad.

"Skips, Mordecai has helped both of us out over and over. We're losing our numbers…for all we know, the Skull Master grabbed Don while we were trapped in here! Mordecai may be just one person, but he may be the one who makes the difference in the end! Last time, he was the one who was able to stop Skull-Master single-handedly!" Rigby shouted.

"Rigby." Skips said, softly. The raccoon began to cry.

"Ease up, kid. How about we send a small squad to rescue Mordecai, while the rest of us leave?" Doug pointed out.

"Alright, then. I'll leave with Chad, Margaret, and Eileen. Who wants to go on the mission?" Skips asked.

"I'll go. I may be the only hope they have because my ghostly form is immune to the Aymitophin." Hi-5 ghost said, courageously.

"I'll go. Without Mordecai, I would've been a Super-Skull by now because of the ambush we walked into together, with Jeremy. I'll repay the favor by saving him." Carson said, bravely.

"I'm going too. He's my best friend." Rigby said, softly.

"So will I. They'll need me to trick the computer to get them out." Doug said, just realizing the fact. In Chad's voice, Doug summoned the transport and watched as Skips left, with Eileen, Chad, and Margaret. In Chad's voice, a moment later, Doug summoned the transport to go to A-9. The Anti-Skulls piled into the capsule in small groups, with Doug being the last to enter and go to A-9.

"Ready or not, Mordecai, here we come." Rigby said. The Anti-Skulls ran down the hall to save their fallen friend.

…

**Present Day**

"It's…Jeremy?" Don gasped, staring at the white bird.

"Of course it is." Benson said, walking in and spotting the bird. Medic bots were attending to him.

"Shimmering Leaf Meadows. This is a secret location under the lake…so if Skips was heading here, then what got him off-track?" Don asked himself.

"Probably an attempted attack by the Skull Master." Benson sighed. In truth, Skips had sensed the portal when it opened and headed to the portal with Carson. But the tall raccoon and the gumball machine did not know that.

"Well…I thought he had been captured. I guess Jeremy's got some explaining to do…like how he possibly escaped. Or, if he is a Super Skull by now." Don said.

Meanwhile, Skips had just arrived at the park, driving a rusty car.

"I can't believe Skull Master has Mordecai because of me." Margaret said, sadly.

"YEAH! HE SHOULD HAVE ALL OF YOU!" Eileen shouted, from the back of the car. She was tied up, along with Chad.

"At least we're safe, Margaret. Now, let's find out how to revert the Super Skulls to their former selves." Skips said, cracking his knuckles and exiting the car. Margaret exited too, feeling hollow inside. Most of her friends were all in the Skull Master's lair…because of her. A guilty feeling filled the red bird. She felt as helpless as she did back when the Skull Master had first taken her hostage, during the Skull Master's first attack.

…

(SIDE NOTE: Do the Anti-Skulls succeed in rescuing Mordecai? What will Carson and Benson do with Jeremy? And where has Pops been during this whole thing?! Some of these questions will be answered next chapter, if there is a next chapter. Remember reviews = guaranteed next chapters! Thanks for reading!)


	8. Escape From The Skull Master

"Let me get this straight: Benson is an Anti-Skull now." Margaret said, still feeling dizzy from this new revelation.

"Yeah, but Benson doesn't have to be our only new ally." Don grinned.

"While we were near the Namerian system, Don remembered Yulon's former group; the Skull Crushers. They were the ones that planted the counter-nanochip inside Yulon, and they're technically the original Anti-Skulls." Benson smiled.

"But we didn't have the right documents allowing travel to Namera, because I decided to settle a small area in Haymi, outside of the Namerian system." Don explained.

"But, while we were in Haymi, and before we reached Don's area in which the safe resided, I decided to start the process to get the authorization to travel to Namera. I called up a cool attorney I know, who once tried to defend Mordecai and Rigby from being judged as **TOO **cool." Benson grinned.

"And now we're already on our way to having access to Namera, and with it, access to contact the Skull Crushers." Don concluded. Skips and Margaret just stared, stunned.

"That's…GREAT! We have no idea how large the Super Skulls are, but with the Skull Crushers on our side, we will certainly outmatch them." Margaret smiled.

"Listen, it's been a day since we left the lair, but I still have the location. Once we get the Skull Crushers to join our cause, we should mount an all-out attack on the lair before they grow too powerful." Skips said.

"Yeah, we might even be able to free Mordecai and the rest of the Anti-Skulls!" Carson realized.

"Unless the rest of the Anti-Skulls already freed Mordecai and are on their way here." Benson said nervously, still feeling guilty for allowing his workers to be in so much danger.

…

**One Day Ago**

"We've got Mordecai!" Rigby cheered, as Carson carried the still-unconscious blue jay around the corner.

"Chad, we need you to call the transfer back to Z-0! NOW!" the tall, brown bird shouted. Security robots emerged from all sides.

"Muscle Man won't stay knocked out forever…" Hi-5 ghost queasily said, before noticing the robots.

"If only we had a technomancer on our team." Doug grunted.

"Too bad, so sad. We technomancers prefer the winning side." Techmo said, maliciously. The former Anti-Skull had emerged with the robots, bringing up the rear. There were about seventy of the drones, surrounding both sides of the hallway that the Anti-Skulls were in.

"To think you had me thinking that you would come to your senses once the Skull Master had left your body! You may still be being hacked, but the Techmo I used to know would be fighting it. But look at you—you've completely succumbed." Rigby growled.

"No, I didn't. I was once like you. Once the Skull Master left me, I tried to escape. Using my hacking skills, I nearly made it. But, before I knew it, the programs I was using to delay the Skull Master and block the lair's transports and drones were reversed. Those offensive programs were launched on me due to Chad's genius little fail-safe that would reverse all code…the offensive programs knocked me defenseless, and before I knew it, I underwent the operation. After that, it was clear my true place was by the Skull Master's side. I'm sure once you go through the operation, you'll understand as well." Techmo said, condescendingly in a I'm-More-Powerful-Than-You sort of voice.

"Hey, Techmo. You may be part cyborg, but there's still a weakness from your human part. That weakness…" Carson began, as Rigby pulled the chemical from behind his back, "…is Aymitophin!" Carson finished, as Rigby slammed it on the ground. Everyone put on gas masks, as Techmo's wheezing and gasping was heard. The drones saw through the gas and moved forwards.

"It was a good thing we grabbed some gas masks when we found the supplies closet. It's too bad we didn't find any code scramblers." Doug said, as the robots came closer. Rays of pure energy began to fire from their arms, creating a hard-to-dodge situation where everyone was forming strange positions to not get hit. When a ray from a robot on one side of the corridor hit a robot at the other side, Carson formed a plan. The tall, brown bird walked straight towards the robots, and stood still, holding his arms up high. The robots aimed and locked their target.

"What are you doing?!" Hi-5 ghost shouted.

"Watch." Carson said, his eyes twinkling. The beams fired, and if one hit, the tall, brown bird would be vaporized. Instead, Carson stepped out of the way. Before the robots had time to aim again, they sensed a huge build-up of energy in the middle of the corridor. Hi-5 ghost turned and saw a huge energy ball begin building up in the middle of the corridor.

"Clear out!" Carson commanded. Rigby grabbed Mordecai, and the Anti-Skulls ran swiftly away from the ball. A large explosion was heard, and the pure shock of the blast sent the Anti-Skulls flying. Rigby hit his head hard against the metal wall of the lair, dropping Mordecai, and rolling onto his back. His vision darkening, Rigby swore under his breath. The raccoon blacked out, and the blood upon the wall made it clear that there was head trauma inflicted.

…

"So, if I'm getting this right, Carson drew the attention of robots from one side of the corridor while Doug drew the attention of the robots from the other side. Both sides fired and the mass build-up of the energy beams colliding caused the explosion." Hi-5 ghost said.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Doug replied, as they walked out of the lair. Mordecai, who had woken up at this point, was now carrying Rigby.

"Techmo was caught in the explosion and Rigby, who was moving slower due to the fact he was carrying Mordecai, was also caught. Both are injured and need to get attention from our Med-Bots." Carson said, carrying Techmo.

"Maybe once Techmo is un-brainwashed, he can become our technomancer. We're sort of lacking in that position." Mordecai joked, as they continued walking.

"So…um, how far away is the park?" Doug said, causing the Anti-Skulls to exchange a look.

…

Time had passed, though nobody in the group knew exactly how much time had passed. The sky began to darken, and they were trapped in a seemingly never ending desert.

"Why would someone put their top-secret evil lair in the middle of nowhere?!" Doug blurted out, frustrated. The answer, blaringly obvious, caused Doug to realized how dumb he had just sounded. They continued to walk.

"I hope we see a sign of the park soon." Mordecai sighed, wanting to suggest another break. But it seemed like they had all taken a break a few minutes ago.

"Oh, you'll see the park again. But not as an Anti-Skull." A new voice said. The small group turned around to see a woman that radiated beauty. Perfect figure, perfect shape, and a flawless shape.

"And…who are…um…you?" Doug asked, feeling warm all of a sudden.

"I'm the Skull Master, silly. How do you like the new bod?" the woman said, running a hand through her long, blonde hair.

"I love it…" Hi-5 ghost drooled.

"I think it's sick that you would…er…take such a nice woman's body…and what a nice body—I mean woman! What a nice woman!" Carson said, awkwardly, feeling his knees begin to buckle.

"I already let that dumb yeti get away. I don't intend to let you go as well." The woman grinned.

"Well, that's too bad. We're not going back." Carson said, his eyes shifting downwards from the woman's face. Drool rolled off of his beak.

"That's too bad. I hope I don't bust a nail." The woman said, seductively. She pulled a small box out of her pocket, littered with tons of little buttons. She pressed one, and in a moment, tentacles began bursting out of the ground.

"NOT THIS AGAIN!" Mordecai cried out, while Carson's face showed a look of horror. The Anti-Skulls broke into a run, trying to avoid the endless onslaught of tentacles.

…

**Present Day**

"Geez. The Skull Master was smart enough to implant a chip in his own soul. Apparently, he did the same thing to the Super-Skulls…put a small chip inside their souls. This small chip appears to be what's controlling them." Skips observed.

"And to think it nearly happened to me." Margaret whispered.

"Well, either way, we need to find a way to reverse the operation. But in order to do so, we need a technomancer. My supernatural knowledge can extract the soul, but we need a technomancer to properly extract the chip without damaging the soul itself." Skips murmured.

"Did Techmo have any technomancer friends?" Benson asked.

"He did, but we never met. However, I think I know of a surefire way to solve this problem!" Skips grinned.

"Good old Skips, you always know what to do." Benson smiled, proud.

…

"Skips. This your stupidest solution yet." Benson frowned, disappointed. Margaret, Don, and the gumball machine watched the yeti use google to find a technomancer.

"I'm sure these guys would be great…but none of them would be as great as Techmo was." Margaret sighed.

"I'm doing the best I can here!" Skips said, bluntly.

"Why don't you just try duplicating the operation?" Don asked. Everyone stared at him.

"You mean to reverse engineer the operation to better our understanding of it?" Skips inquired.

"Yeah. You're good at supernatural stuff and you know a lot, shouldn't be too hard." Margaret pointed out.

"Or you could just try to remove the chips off the bat, and if you damage the soul, try a different method using the time machine." Benson said, sarcastically.

"You mean if it's damaged, I can go back in time and stop myself from damaging it and attempt the procedure again?" Skips asked.

"Perfect!" Margaret smiled.

"I was being sarcastic, that could take an eternity with time travel involved!" Benson whimpered.

"It's the best chance we've got." Skips grinned, feeling reckless.

…

**One Day Ago**

Hi-5 ghost had taken to lifting Mordecai, who was carrying Rigby out of the tentacle's reach. Doug shapeshifted into an anthropomorphic motorcycle.

"You're a motorcycle." Carson said, bluntly, in awe.

"I met this talking bike a while back. Imitated him for the heck of it." Doug said, in a squeaky voice. Carson jumped on, the tall brown bird still carrying Techmo under his armpit. The motorcycle took off. When a tentacle reached to jam the wheel, Doug would shapeshift the wheel temporarily into a snake or something, which messed up the ride, but the snake or whatever would just change back into a wheel as soon as possible, re-stabilizing the bike. Carson tore off Techmo's prosthetic arm that happened to be made of technology.

"Please tell me this thing can help." Carson said, pressing a button. A laser fired from it, frying some tentacles. The tall, brown bird grinned.

Hi-5 ghost was getting tired.

"Carson! Catch!" Mordecai called out, looking to dump some weight. The tall, brown bird looked up to see Rigby falling straight towards him. Carson, who had turned the arm along with his head, accidentally pressed the laser button. Rigby was enveloped in it, and his body began to have a spasm as it fell. Carson grabbed Rigby and tied the raccoon's tail to the a handlebar of the motorcycle. Rigby's body was flapping like a flag, the raccoon's nose nearly touching Carson's body. The tall, brown bird readjusted to get a better grip on Techmo, before continuing to fire lasers at the tentacles. Hi-5 ghost couldn't keep up flying and fell, before forming a protective bubble around Mordecai.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Hi-5 ghost, now a protective bubble, cried out as tentacles hammered upon him. Mordecai began running forwards, crushing the tentacles as he built up momentum.

"I feel like Super Hamster Balls!" Mordecai grinned, steering Hi-5 ghost and gaining distance from the Skull Master.

"What's that?" Mordecai gasped, seeing a floating scroll in the distance.

"I don't know! Let me see if I can get it into my body—I mean the bubble!" Hi-5 ghost responded, the noise echoing within the bubble.

"It's so handy to learned this trick." Mordecai laughed.

"Learned? I improvised it during Muscle Man's whole Gut Model fiasco." Hi-5 ghost laughed, before enveloping the scroll. A bunch of symbols littered the page.

"I can't read it!" Mordecai cried out.

"What is it anyways?" Hi-5 ghost said, before a tentacle punctured the bubble.

"It's signed by Skips! It's probably a spell!" Mordecai cried out, as Hi-5 ghost popped. The ghost reformed into its normal form, only to witness a tentacle wrapping around Mordecai's ankle. Carson sped by, grabbing the scroll from the blue jay. A tentacle then grabbed Doug's wheels, and the mongoose couldn't escape. Doug shape-shifted back to normal.

"Can you read this?" Carson asked, as tentacles enveloped his legs.

"Yeah, I've been around the world. This is a spell from—" Doug began, before the slimy tentacles climbed upon him as well. Doug, panicked, began reading.

Once he was done, the scroll lit itself on fire and burnt up. Hi-5 ghost was playing tug-of-war with the tentacles, the prize being Mordecai. Then, the portal opened.

"The scroll opened a portal! Probably back to the park! Let's go!" Mordecai cried out. Carson threw Rigby and Techmo into the portal first. Hi-5 won the tug-of-war and threw Mordecai into the portal. The ghost proceeded to play tug-of-war once more, this time, Carson as the prize.

"Listen! These things are fragile! Doug, did you meet any talking guns or something?" Carson asked, as the ghost began to lose. Doug, now a snake, escaped the tentacles, and morphed into a gun right by Carson's ankle. The tall, brown bird grabbed him and fired bullets at his would-be doom. The tentacles shriveled up and the brown bird escaped, with Doug. Hi-5 ghost was about to dive through the portal, but it abruptly closed. The ghost gulped, before it began to fly again, desperate to get out of the danger zone.

…

"We did it. We made it." Carson gasped, with Doug transforming into his normal form once more.

"I overdid it with the shape-shifting. I think I'll have to sit the next few missions out." Doug gasped, collapsing, having been exhausted.

"We need to get Rigby to some help. Where's the nearest hospital? And where are we?" Mordecai said, taking in his surroundings.

"It looks like Shimmering Leaf Meadows." Carson said, still catching his breath.

"The golf cart should be around here somewhere. Let's just use that." Mordecai sighed.

...

**Present Day**

"They could be anywhere." Benson grieved, wondering about the still-missing workers. Skips took notes on how his attempt failed and where he thought the error was. One time-skip into the past, Skips observed the notes and tried again…and failed. Another time-skip into the past. The gumball machine was getting tired of this. Don and Margaret had already left. After Skips failed once more, Benson confiscated the time machine.

"That's enough for today…we've been at it for almost two days straight and not a minute has passed." The gumball machine said, exasperated.

"Fine. But tomorrow, we resume." The yeti insisted, as he took his final notes.

…

"I just wish Rigby was back." Don sighed.

…

Soon enough, the present day became a yesterday. A day had passed since Don had made his wish, and the park employees had made their way out of Shimmering Leaf.

"Guys! You made it!" Skips grinned.

"What took you so long?" Don asked.

"Long? We took like…a couple hours." Mordecai stated, confused.

"The portal spell I left them after we escaped was kind of…junky. But it was the best I had on hand at the time. I guess it teleported you to the intended location, even if it took a few days to transfer you there. But, to the traveler, going through a portal is swift. To the outside world, the time varies due to various factors…" Skips began speaking, before noticing Rigby.

…

Rigby and Techmo were being tended to by the MedBots. Jeremy, who had been under their care for a while, seemed to be fine by now.

"Thanks, guys." Jeremy smiled.

"You're welcome…but you have to tell us how you escaped! How did you make it out if even Techmo, the world's most resourceful technomancer, couldn't?!" Hi-5 ghost pointed out. Jeremy grinned, seeming eager to tell his story.

Carson and Margaret exchanged a hug of reunion. Carson shot a triumphant look at Mordecai, but the blue jay shook his head calmly. When Margaret and Carson separated, Mordecai walked up. Margaret full-on tackled him, rambling how worried she was and how brave he had been to protect her from the Aymitophin. A small peck on the cheek later, Mordecai shot a _HA! _look straight at Carson, who just stuck his tongue out. The Anti-Skulls were all together, feeling like a family. Meanwhile, the Skull Master, upset at losing so many potential Super Skulls, began to plot a dark plan.

(Side Note: And that wraps up this chapter! What's going to happen to Rigby?! Will Skips discover a way to reverse the operation?! Plus, how will the Skull Crushers handle the meeting?! Some of these questions will be answered next chapter, and as always, if there is a next chapter. This chapter brought by a guest reviewer. Remember, reviews = guaranteed chapters! Thanks for reading!)


	9. Recoil

"Okay, Jeremy, it's time to get hacking…" the white bird mumbled to himself.

"I'm afraid that you won't be escaping." A computerized voice stated.

"How?! I shorted this thing out!" Jeremy exclaimed, as the wires in the capsule began to spark.

"You shorted out the transportation system. But sooner or later, you'll have to come out. Unless you would wish to starve and die in there." The voice responded. Jeremy grimaced. It seemed that he was trapped. Nonetheless, he continued hacking, wishing Techmo was here to help him out. Instead, Jeremy found a small piece of paper jammed between a circuitboard and a cable.

…

Skips and Carson were enthralled with the white bird as he told his story of how he escaped. Techmo, now healed by the MedBots, had been tied up along with Eileen and Chad. Rigby was still in bad condition. Outside of the shed where the captured Super-Skulls and the yeti and brown bird sat, Mordecai and Margaret were talking in private.

"I'm so worried about Rigby." Mordecai sighed.

"At least we have him. Eileen, my friend, may be with us here physically, but she's with the Skull Master mentally." Margaret sighed.

"Yeah. I just wish that we found the reverse already. Instead, Skips and Carson just want to listen to events from the past." Mordecai said, carefully picking the words.

"Well, it could help us in case we need to escape later." Margaret laughed.

"Hey, we did escape. Well, I was knocked out for most of it, but the small group that saved me escaped without a single loss." Mordecai grinned.

"Yeah, we don't need to lose more friends. The pain I'm feeling for Eileen is probably what Hi-5 feels for Muscle Man. Nobody else needs to go through this." Margaret said, wiping her eyes, though there were no tears.

"Hi-5 Ghost?" Mordecai said, quietly.

"He came back with you, right?" Margaret said, beginning to remember her friends returning. Hi-5 wasn't there.

"Oh no." Mordecai whispered.

"We'll save him. Just like we'll save everyone we've lost." Margaret said, trying to optimistic. It wasn't working. The two birds stared at each other.

"Margaret, our free will is something that the Skull Master can take in the blink of an eye. If I…if I go down…" Mordecai began, before trailing off.

"We won't go down, right? Our free will is ours to keep." Margaret said, her voice unsure.

"Well, if we do…then, there's one last thing I need to do and experience myself." Mordecai sighed. Margaret looked up again, only to have her lips seized upon by the blue jay. She returned the kiss, and the two were lost in the moment. They came apart, staring at each other.

"Remember our first kiss? At the airport?" Margaret laughed. The two began to remember things they had experienced together, and travelled into each other's thoughts for a while, before Skips called them into the shed.

…

"Jeremy, you can do the honors of explaining." Skips grinned.

"Alright. Techmo knew his cyborg-part was a weakness while he was in the Skull Master's lair. While he was in the same situation I was, hacking the transport pod, he realized that he wasn't going to make it. He decided to stall and wrote one final note before he transported to Z-0. It was there that, while he was hacking the voice recognition system, the Skull Master had laid a trap. A stream of offensive code attacked Techmo. Techmo had used this code to attack the drones and bots, and the Skull Master harvested the data from the affected robots to set up the trap. When the offensive code rendered Techmo helpless, he knew he would become a Super Skull. But, there was a reason he used the code against the drones and bots. Techmo knew that the Skull Master could copy the code and redirect it later, so Techmo had used a special code. This code basically attached to his soul and encrypted it. The Skull Master, unable to break the encryption on Techmo's soul, was unable to perform the operation of putting a chip into the soul. So, the Skull Master used an alternate method of converting Techmo…and it worked. But, Techmo had predicted this procedure and wrote the cure on this slip of paper!" Jeremy said, out of breath when he finished.

"Then, how did you break the voice recognition system?" Mordecai asked, confused.

"He left a small virus for me to use next to the note that temporarily broke the system. I went to Z-0 using the virus and escaped from there." Jeremy explained.

"How far is the park from the lair?" Margaret asked, thinking about Hi-5 ghost.

"A long ways away. The lair's in the middle of a desert. You could walk for days, weeks, and not make it out. I happened upon a small group of archaeologists, who had confirmed that there was nothing in the desert. They took me back with them into the city and nourished me. From there, I walked to the park." Jeremy sighed, as if he had already said this tons of times before.

"Anyways, if we can cure Techmo, then we can cure Eileen and Chad." Skips said, happily.

"Great. Let's just follow the instructions on the paper." Mordecai said, excitedly.

…

"My, my this is quite an army we have here." GBF Jr. whispered to the Skull Master, as the two overlooked a small crowd.

"Yes, Mordecai and Rigby have ticked off plenty of powerful beings. When we subdued Death, it was easy to bring them back from the dead." The Skull Master whispered back, a hint of darkness to his voice.

"You're so hot." GBF Jr. blurted out, noting the Skull Master's perfect figure.

"I may be in a girl's body, but I'm still a guy. Go chase someone else." The Skull Master joked, ruffling GBF. Jr's hair.

"Well then, go on. Give your speech." GBF Jr. said, shoving the Skull Master ahead of himself. The Skull Master turned around and mumbled a few words.

"We can't hear you, oh great one!" Starla shouted. She and Muscle Man stood next to each other, but neither thought of anything romantic. Both were thinking of one thing; pleasing their master efficiently.

"You weren't supposed to." The Skull Master replied, bitterly. He snapped his fingers, Starla collapsed, screaming in agony. The Skull Master snapped again and she got up, crying.

"I am so sorry! Please forgive me!" the muscle woman said.

"Forgiven. Now, all of you, past foes of Mordecai and Rigby, Super Skulls, or just plain allies of mine." The Skull Master began to speak. The crowd had gone deathly quiet, all eyes on the speaker.

"I've gathered you here to get sweet vengeance! On Mordecai! On Rigby! On those wretched Anti-Skulls!" the Skull Master yelled, prompting a cheer from the crowd.

"SKULL MASTER! SKULL MASTER! SKULL MASTER!" Eileen chanted, and soon the entire crowd was chanting. The Skull Master smiled, remembering when people used to chant his name all the time. Remembering when he was hosting the competition, and was blissfully oblivious of the Anti-Skull operation. He began to speak again:

"I have a plan! We will begin our final assault on them soon, with our large army! But no doubt, they've been preparing as well! So, we must find a way to get an attack on them before they attack us! I have word that there is negotiations underway to allow the Anti-Skulls to access the Namerian system, and with it, access to a force far stronger than them: the Skull Crushers. We must attack before the legalization process finishes. I have organized a strategic war plan. You will all memorize and execute it in three days!" The Skull Master yelled. The crowd burst into chants again. Meanwhile Hi-5, who had phased through the wall to watch the assembly, watched in horror as the Skull Master gave an overview of the war plan.

"My friends don't stand a chance." The ghost whispered. He was determined to get the word to the Anti-Skulls…but how?

…

"Rigby, I'm so sorry you got hurt because of me." Mordecai said, staring at his raccoon friend as the MedBots continued to work.

"It wasn't because of you. You were only in that situation because of me. I was helpless when the Aymitophin rolled in, and when you were taken, I fell unconscious." Margaret sighed.

"I…had to save you. A compelling force made me." Mordecai said, quietly.

"I'm so sorry." Margaret cried.

"Why? You've been a great asset to us so far." The blue jay said.

"HOW?! Last time, I was the Skull Master's host, I let myself get captured and turned into his slave! I was the first Super Skull!" Margaret said, sobbing. Mordecai brought her close to himself.

"That was last time. This time, you're one of us. And you're helping." Mordecai said, rubbing her back to try to stop her crying.

"No, I'm not! I'm only in your organization because the Skull Master nearly got me again when this whole thing started! He would have me right now if Eileen hadn't pointed out that the Skull Master was who he was!" Margaret cried. Mordecai was speechless to stop her, so Margaret continued:

"Then I let myself nearly get captured again, by Eileen! If Rigby hadn't followed us, I'd be a Super Skull. Eileen forced me into the Skull Master's lair and all of you had to follow and risk your lives for me! And after that, you got captured because you had to protect me! I've been nothing but a useless sack of weight this entire time!" the red bird finished.

"You do know…you're not worthless. You inspire us. Margaret, you're the reason that Carson, Jeremy, and I were inspired to do whatever we had to do. You're the reason that the three of us keep fighting. If you weren't here, Jeremy probably would've given up the moment he was captured. Instead, he was compelled to escape. If not for you, we wouldn't have Techmo. They're liberating him as we speak, and soon, we'll have a technomancer on our side. A technomancer that could very well hack into the Skull Master's technology and severely cripple his forces." Mordecai smiled. Margaret sniffed, her tears ceasing to flow.

"Thanks, Mordecai." The red bird said, before giggling.

"What's so funny?" the blue bird said.

"I just…lost it for a bit. I don't know why I did." Margaret sighed. She left the small area, leaving Mordecai alone. The blue jay returned his attention to Rigby, where the MedBots did all they could to heal his head.

"You'll be alright." Mordecai whispered, solemnly.

…

"Techmo is recovering from the surgery." Skips said, blood splattered over his normally white fur.

"Skips, can I speak to you? Sorry to steal him, Carson." Benson said, entering the room. Carson just nodded his acknowledgement as Skips left.

"What's up?" the muscular yeti asked.

"I just got a call from Mr. Maellard, my boss, who owns the park. He says that Pops will be returning from his trip shortly." Benson sighed.

"Pops? Returning from his trip? But he was gone when this whole Anti-Skull stuff started! Both times!" Skips grimaced.

"I know. I'll have it arranged for him to stay somewhere safe until we defeat the Skull Master." Benson explained.

"Why is this important enough to call me out of my shed where I need to keep a close watch over Techmo to make sure his body keeps stable after the operation." Skips sighed.

"Because I'll have to stay with Pops. If Pops gets hurt, then I get fired. I'm trying to tell you that I'm quitting from the Anti-Skulls." Benson said.

"But…your authority and athleticism could've served us." Skips protested.

"I know. If the Skull Master returns a third time, count me in. But I'm sitting this one out." Benson explained.

"Fine then. Go tend to Pops." Skips said, as if scolding Benson, before walking back inside the shed. The gumball machine just walked away, feeling as if he blew it.

…

"How're you doing, Doug?" Don asked, walking in on his friend.

"I've been better." The mongoose sighed, weakly smiling.

"I understand that rapid transformations successively and consecutively had a negative effect on your body and that you need to take a break from the Anti-Skulls. It's going to be strange without you." The tall raccoon laughed.

"I'm not going to be away for that long! I'm recovering rapidly!" Doug laughed.

"Well, just thought I'd check in on you." Don grinned, feeling happy his friend was laughing.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Doug sighed.

"And I'm relieved. Without you, all of the Anti-Skulls that went after Mordecai would've been captured." Don said.

"How did you guys manage without me last time the Skull Master attacked?" Doug teased.

"Don't ask me, I wasn't an Anti-Skull last time around." Don grinned.

"I wonder what happened last time." Doug sighed.

"Yeah. I wonder how we're going to beat him this time. I heard what happened last time was that Yulon used a counter-nanochip to destroy the Skull Master. We don't have Yulon any more…or a counter nanochip. In truth, what really happened was the Skull Master transferred himself into the blank shell that was once the counter nanochip, unsafely, causing a brief state of him being out of action, but…it's nice to think that Yulon had a chance of ending the Skull Master." Don said, thoughtfully.

"If only Margaret wasn't the host. Then Yulon and the Skull Master wouldn't have been close enough for the counter nanochip to be deactivated." Doug said, thinking of what he had heard.

"Well, anyways, it's nice to see my friend's feeling better. Now, give me some sugar." Don smiled, warmly.

…

Techmo was now being tended to by the MedBots, along with Rigby. Skips was in the small room, with Mordecai, observing the MedBots work.

"So, once Techmo is all healed up, he can most likely cure Eileen and Chad?" Mordecai asked.

"That's the theory. Techmo's no longer a Super-Skull…but the surgery put major strain on his body. You see, the Skull Master implanted the chip into an encrypted part of Techmo's brain." Skips explained.

"Techmo's brain had coding?" Mordecai asked.

"In order for the part of the brain to be encrypted, there had to be code to encrypt first. Part of Techmo's brain is mechanical, after all." Skips sighed.

"So, the chip was just in a robotic part of the brain, and the robotic part wouldn't let the chip be tampered with unless the encryption was broken." Mordecai said, piecing it together.

"Techmo's slip of paper told us a way around it…we had to forcibly jack him into a computer. During the brief moment between the mind of Techmo transferring between the real world and the digital world, the encryption didn't have time to reform itself. We froze time except for us, before the encryption reformed, grabbed the frozen Techmo and pulled the chip out." Skips said.

"I remember Techmo jacking into our computer when he had to fight the DoomMaGeddon virus." Mordecai laughed.

"Yeah, he's pretty skilled at what he does." Skips said, smiling.

"I'm so happy that he's no longer on the enemy side." The blue jay sighed.

...

Hi-5 ghost thought of the words that Doug had read. If only he could remember them…wait! There had to be a piece of tech in this huge lair that could help him escape! Maybe a portal generator? After all, GBF Jr. had indeed launched an attack on Skips. If GBF Jr. was working for the Skull Master, then of course he would've been at the lair. Where could the portal generator be? Hi-5 ghost explored the lair, finding tons of foreign tech that he didn't think even existed. Phasing through walls, Hi-5 could explore nearly every floor. From Z-0, Hi-5's was determined to explore until he reached the top floor…A-10. He had to find SOMETHING to contact the Anti-Skulls, and hopefully, a portal generator or something to escape as well.

…

One day had passed.

"Rigby. I'm so glad you're better." Mordecai sighed, as the raccoon walked into the coffee shop casually. Margaret poured her blue jay friend a coffee.

"Hey there." Rigby said, forcing a smile.

"What's wrong?" Mordecai asked.

"Eileen. I…I just thought about how she betrayed us and how much of a friend she was. These coffee shop meetings won't be the same without her." Rigby frowned.

"I agree." Margaret said, cheerfully.

"Yeah, Eileen is a crucial part of these meetings." Mordecai said, happily. Rigby looked at the two birds with a look that said 'You're insane.'

"Why are you so happy?!" Rigby said, nearly shouting.

"Because Eileen's about to return to the Anti-Skulls. Once Techmo has finished healing, Eileen and Chad are back on our side!" Mordecai grinned.

"That's great news!" Rigby exclaimed.

"I know. We can't wait!" Margaret sighed. The two birds exchanged a look of excitement.

"RIGBY!" a new voice said. Don had entered the shop.

"Hey, bro." Rigby said, losing his sudden happiness.

"I'm so glad you're okay! I thought you might never heal!" Don said.

"Well, I'm back." Rigby sighed. Don took a knee.

"Give me some sugar!"

One sugar exchange later, Skips and Carson walked in.

"Don, did you deliver the news?" Skips asked.

"I was about to, but I saw Rigby and got sidetracked." Don laughed.

"What's the news?" Margaret asked.

"The legal office on Namera has approved us! We just need to go to Namera to finish the final steps of the process!" Skips said, excited.

"Dude. Skull Master is screwed." Mordecai smiled.

"Pack your bags, everyone! We leave for Namera tomorrow!" Don shouted, loud enough the entire park could hear.

(SIDE NOTE: What could the Skull Master's plan be? Will the Anti-Skulls reach the Skull Crushers in time? What's going to happen to Techmo? Some of these questions will be answered next chapter, if there is one. Remember reviews=guaranteed chapters. Thanks for reading!)


	10. Journey To Namera

The spaceship was, put shortly, gigantic. Most of the Anti-Skulls piled in, and met Gary, the attorney who had helped them get to where they were now.

"Hello, there. Is everyone here? Ready to visit Namera?" Gary asked, casually.

"Everyone's here but Skips, who wants to work with Techmo to save our friends as soon as possible, and Benson, who has to delay Pops." Jeremy reported.

"Alright, then. We'll be off then." Gary said, before sitting in a chair at the front of the ship. None of the Anti-Skulls understood the control panel, so as Gary was operating it, confusion combined with excitement for Namera made the air tense. The ship slowly began to hover, giving everyone a sense of disorientation, as if they couldn't balance. Margaret fell right into Mordecai's arms. The blue jay helped steady her, before flashing a look at Carson. The tall, brown bird looked away quickly.

"Namera…I wonder how the Skull Crushers are going to be able to help." Rigby said, imagining a group of muscular commandos.

"I don't know. They were the ones that came up with the whole counter-nanochip plan in the first place. Though the plan failed, you have to admit, it nearly destroyed the Skull Master for good." Carson grinned, imagining strategic geniuses, with oversized heads to contain massive brains.

"Or maybe they're just like us…a rag-tag bunch that just wants to see justice served." Mordecai pitched in, imagining a parallel version of the Anti-Skulls.

"I'd bet they're a top-group of special agents that remain secretive and execute plans from their leader." Margaret sighed.

"Or maybe they're all dead." Doug said, bluntly, ruining the moment.

"We have just left the planet, it is too late to turn back without me feeling like this has been a complete waste of time." Gary reported.

"Well, I'll guess we'll find out exactly what the Skull Crushers are like when we meet them." Don said, optimistically.

…

"That ship…it has to be them." GBF Jr. said, darkly, spotting the gigantic hunk of metal. He sat in a chair in a spaceship of his own, operating it.

"You heard the Skull Master. We absolutely can't let them reach Namera!" a feminine voice said.

"I know that, Susan! That's why we're going to destroy their ship and leave them to die!" GBF Jr. growled.

"We'll absolutely dominate those ladies!" Muscle Man laughed.

"I can just see their ship exploding into flames! A perfect romantic backdrop!" Starla grinned.

"Whatever. I just wish the Skull Master sent more people to help. The Anti-Skulls outnumber us." Susan sighed.

"So what? We still outmatch them." GBF Jr. grinned, evilly.

"Can you try and gun 'em down, bro?" Muscle Man asked, approaching the control panel.

"Of course." GBF Jr. laughed, before pressing a series of buttons. Nothing happened.

"Bro, that's so lame!" Muscle Man said, disappointed. GBF Jr. just held up his hand, innocently.

"Just wait…things are about to get interesting." Susan said, exchanging a look with the pilot. It took three tense seconds before the gigantic ship in the distance began to suffer laser after laser.

"How much ammo does this thing have?!" Starla exclaimed, in glee, as a seemingly endless onslaught of lasers battered up the Anti-Skulls ship.

"Infinite. We have an energy core that generates its own energy! The Anti-Skulls should be toast in no time!" GBF Jr. grinned.

"The core of the ship…" a strange voice whispered, quietly enough so that nobody else heard. A ghost, who had hijacked the ship, began to explore within the walls. Where could the core be located? Hi-5 ghost knew that if he disabled the core, he would've disabled the Super Skull ship, which would save his friends. Where was the bloody thing?!

…

"We're taking quite a bit of damage." Gary said, nonchalantly.

"Dude! Don't we have any defense systems?!" Rigby exclaimed, as the ship began to tremble.

"Yes. We have two smaller pods that can launch from the back of our ship that can go out and shoot down the predator. The ship itself doesn't have any defenses. Remember, this is a Namerian Peaceful Immigration ship designed to bring in those seeking permits to access the Namerian system. Why would they add guns and such to an otherwise peaceful ship?" Gary replied.

"Alright, let's get to the back of this thing and access the pods to shoot down…whoever's shooting us!" Don said, making his way backwards.

"I'll do it!" Margaret yelled, determined to prove herself.

"And I'll do it too!" Carson and Mordecai shouted, at the exact same time.

"Thanks, Mordecai." Margaret blushed, as if she hadn't even heard Carson. The blue jay and the red bird climbed into the pods, while the tall, brown bird sulked in a corner.

"Launching pods in 3. 2. 1." Gary sighed, as if bored. He pressed a button, and Mordecai and Margaret were lost to the stars.

…

"Cease fire." GBF Jr. stated.

"What—bro?! WHY!?" Muscle Man squealed, nervous.

"We can only aim at one target at a time. Two unknown…things are approaching us." GBF Jr. growled.

"Muscle Man, how about you make yourself useful and sit down." Susan snapped. Muscle Man sat down.

"Why's he gotta sit?" GBF Jr. asked, confused. Susan dropped her voice to a whisper so that Muscle Man and Starla couldn't hear:

"I'm planning to turn him into an obedient Susan."

"Marvelous. Have I mentioned how useful you are?" GBF Jr. laughed, hearing the plan.

"So…are these two things any threat?" Susan asked.

"Doesn't hurt to play it safe." GBF Jr. grinned, aiming at one of the rapidly speeding pods.

"They're going to collide into us if they don't slow down." Susan said.

"Whatever." GBF Jr. sighed, before turning the lasers on again. They all hit one of the pods, and it exploded in a flurry of purple light.

…

"MARGARET!" Mordecai cried out, watching his friend's pod explode. There were no traces that the red bird had even been there a moment before. The blue jay felt an uncontrollable rage pulse through his body; no sadness, no grief. Just pure anger. The Skull Master was to blame for this. The Skull Master had abused her, had made her feel things that nobody should ever feel. The Skull Master was the reason that she volunteered for this-and he was the reason she was gone. No more. The blue jay, as if he had no will to live, pressed the self-destruct button on the pod. He then hurtled straight towards the Super Skull's ship.

…

"Ready to vaporize another?" Starla cackled in delight.

"Yup. Let me just aim and lock onto the target…" GBF Jr. grinned. But in the time it took to aim, Mordecai's pod had already collided with the Super Skull ship. The blue jay heard a computerized voice read out numbers; a countdown sequence. 3. 2. 1. A purple explosion tore into the side of the Super Skull's ship, damaging it severely.

"ARGH!" Muscle Man squealed, as he slid across the ship's floor. The Super Skull ship began to spin uncontrollably, before reentering Earth's atmosphere and hurtling towards the ground. Muscle Man felt himself being grabbed by something…before the ship literally passed right through him. Muscle Man realized he was floating, and the ship was now below him somehow. How'd he get out of the ship? Why wasn't he falling?

"You're welcome." A ghostly voice stated.

"Hi-5 ghost?" Muscle Man squealed.

"And Mordecai." A different voice said. The ghost set the two down on top of a skyscraper.

"You'll pay for messing up the Skull Master's plans!" Muscle Man squealed, before Mordecai promptly knocked him out.

"Sorry that…you know…" Hi-5 ghost sighed.

"I know. Margaret." The blue jay said, before producing an inhuman noise. Mordecai fell to his knees, and began weeping. Tears flowed, and an aura of sadness surrounded the blue bird.

"Let's go back to the park. Maybe Skips can revive her or something." Hi-5 ghost said, placing his hand on Mordecai's shoulder.

"Skips can't do anything. He couldn't stop the Skull Master from coming back. At the very beginning of this, Skull Master was literally just a chip. But poor Skips just watched Techmo get corrupted and vanish. If Skips had done something…" Mordecai began saying, trying to find out who to blame.

"You weren't there. You don't know how it happened, perhaps there was no way of stopping it." Hi-5 ghost sighed.

"Let's just go to the park. And if Skips can't save her…" Mordecai sighed, before shaking his head. The blue jay's eyes showed wildness.

…

"They did it." Rigby grinned, watching the Super Skull ship plummet back into Earth's atmosphere.

"Yeah. But Margaret..." Carson began, before looking solemnly at Rigby.

"She died." Don said, casually, as if she'd been dead for hundreds of years.

"I should've went instead of Mordecai. Maybe I could've…" Carson began saying, before Gary interrupted him.

"The Namerian wormhole is in sight, we should be near the Namerian system soon." The pilot said.

"Thanks for doing this." Don said, walking towards Gary. Doug just stared in shock.

"I can't believe such a little pod could do that much damage…" the mongoose sighed.

"I think that Mordecai must've hit like…an energy core or something, triggering the massive explosion." Carson theorized.

"Yeah. Margaret's pod didn't cause that big of an explosion when it got destroyed—you're probably right." Rigby said, quietly.

"Maybe Margaret could've lived." Don sighed, shrugging.

"For all we know, Mordecai's also dead. Did you see the size of that explosion?!" Carson said.

"Mordecai's not dead. We've been through worse." Rigby laughed, flash-backing at all the supernatural weirdness that happened at the park.

"I wish we could all share your optimism, kid." Doug sighed. Carson was about to speak again, before the ship went through the Namerian wormhole, causing everyone to scream.

…

Techmo read the notes that Skips had made on restoring the Super Skulls to their normal selves.

"Yeah, you got close a few times—but here's what I think. If we used a T-Mega-6 Cable, we could possibly hook up the chip to a computer, and run a deactivation program on the computer." The technomancer sighed.

"I'm so glad you're back with the good guys." The yeti laughed happily.

"And soon, Eileen and Chad will also be back." Techmo grinned.

"HAIL THE SKULL MASTER!" Chad yelled, in response. The yeti and the technomancer shared a laugh.

"Skips! Emergency!" Hi-5 ghost stated, before dropping Muscle Man and Mordecai.

"What happened? Where are the others?" the yeti inquired, his good mood dissipating.

"On their way to Namera. But the Skull Master tried to take down the ship that the Anti Skulls were in! Mordecai and Margaret used pods to stop him, but Margaret…was destroyed. Mordecai was able to steer his pod into an energy core and trigger an explosion that took the ship down, but now he's…lost his will to live." Hi-5 ghost reported.

"Margaret…" the blue jay moaned, as if waiting for a cue.

"Can we save her?" Hi-5 ghost asked.

"What happened to the Skull Master's ship?" Skips asked.

"It went down and exploded in a field close to a city…there were almost no casualties." Hi-5 ghost said.

"Alright. And Muscle Man?" Techmo asked, approaching.

"He's still a Super Skull, but I saved him." Hi-5 ghost sighed.

"We'll cure him with the rest." Techmo laughed, warmly, melting Hi-5's worries and concerns away.

"So, you want me to save Margaret, right?" Skips asked, getting back on track. Hi-5 ghost nodded.

"Well, I've been meaning to get in touch with Death for a while now. I fear that the Skull Master may have captured him…this seems like a good time to save him. If anyone can revive Margaret, it's Death." Skips stated.

"I'm going with you." Mordecai said, feeling determination once more.

"Thanks. Let's go." Skips said.

"I'll work on the cure with Hi-5 ghost." Techmo grinned. And with that, they split up.

…

"GBF Jr., Starla, and Susan were all killed when their ship went down." The Skull Master reported to his followers.

"Booooo!" the crowd yelled.

"The Anti Skulls will be arriving on Namera soon! With Death still in our captivity, we can go back for them, but time is running out. The new plan is to let the Anti-Skulls reach Namera…but to create a scenario whereas they cannot come back to Earth. Any ideas on how to make this a reality?" the Skull Master announced. The crowd burst into suggestion upon suggestion. The Skull Master grinned. This was going to be easy as pie.

…

The Anti-Skulls went through the final steps of the legalization process, and were granted access to Namera and all of its services. Gary agreed to become their guide temporarily for the strange planet of Namera itself.

"This thing is huge." Doug gasped, noticing how urban and futuristic the planet seemed to be.

"No kidding, this whole planet is like one giant city!" Don grinned, in awe.

"How are we supposed to find the Skull Crushers in a place like this?!" Rigby cried out, noticing the downsides of the situation.

"Why don't we just ask around and see what we can find?" Carson asked, before approaching somebody appearing to be in 'the know'. He had a black vest upon his shirtless torso, and his pants seemed to be too big, sagging to just below his wasteline.

"Whatcha want, silly bird?" the strange man taunted.

"I'm looking for a group of people that call themselves the Skull Crushers. Know what I'm talking about?" Carson inquired.

"The Skull Crushers were all annexed into the Namera's Police System. Their team was so good at stopping superpowered villains, they went from vigilante's to official peacekeepers once the Skull Master was killed." The man grinned, showing his few yellowed teeth.

"Skull Master? Killed?" Carson asked, confused.

"Yeah, they had reports that the counter-nanochip's code had left…meaning that the code went to the Skull Master's nanochip and killed him." The man cackled.

"You don't get it. He's back now…the code left the nanochip because the Skull Master deactivated it!" Don explained, as he approached.

"Impossible! The Skull Crushers would've known about that! And there's no way Yulon would've been so close to Skull Master long enough for the Skull Master to deactivate the chip!" the man growled.

"Yulon's dead." Gary said, bluntly.

"Aw, you crazies. Leave me alone." The man scowled, walking away.

"This isn't good. How are we supposed to contact the Skull Crushers if they're so high in authority?" Rigby asked.

"I've got this." Gary stated, pulling out a cell phone.

"He knows people." Don surmised, exchanging a look with Carson.

…

"Geez, the Skull Master's lair. But, we don't have Doug to fool the voice recognition system." Mordecai said, as he stepped out of the portal.

"Techmo knows this place pretty well and gave us some scramblers. Any tech the lair has will be rendered useless." Skips said.

"Wow." Was all that the blue jay could utter.

"It's apparent that if the Skull Master has Death, then Death'll probably be in his lair." Skips said, as the two walked into Z-0.

"Use the scrambler." Mordecai said. Skips did so.

"COMPUTER! Transport to Z-1!" the muscular yeti yelled. The transport capsule opened and the two climbed in.

…

"You sure that you know where they're holding Death?" Techmo asked, as he gently set Chad on the ground for the MedBots to attend to.

"I explored every nook and cranny of the Skull Master's lair, of course I do!" Hi-5 ghost grinned.

"And you couldn't free him because-?" Techmo asked.

"Because they're using energy beams to hold him…even I can't phase through those!" Hi-5 sighed.

"Energy beams? I'm going to guess they repel supernatural energies." Techmo said, watching as the MedBots continued to work tirelessly.

"Yeah, but your scramblers should take it down. I'm excited to have Death back in the Anti Skulls. He was who started the Anti Skulls in the first place!" Hi-5's grinned. The two exchanged a high five before leaving to free Eileen and Muscle Man.

…

"I can't get us to the Skull Crushers. They're treated as royalty for destroying the Skull Master alone." Gary sighed.

"Even if their plan had worked and Yulon DID kill the Skull Master, we had to be there to help him tirelessly! Seriously, the guy couldn't do squat on his own!" Rigby said, upset.

"So…how do we get in contact with Namera's top-notch force of justice?" Carson asked.

"Easy. We become top-notch criminals." Doug grinned.

(SIDE NOTE: And that wraps up the chapter! What's going to happen with Skips and Mordecai going on a mission to save Death?! Can Margaret be saved?! Will the Skull Crushers be reached?! Some of these questions will be answered next chapter, if there is a next chapter. Also, there has been a small rumor that I'm reviewing my own fic. No, no I'm not. I think the guest/anon reviews are all one person, but it's not me. But, I WILL ask for reviews because they mean a lot to me…though I ask for reviews pretty much at the end of every chapter. So..um…reviews = guaranteed chapters!)


	11. Something Gained, Something Lost

"No." Doug gasped, as Gary delivered the news.

"I am sorry, but there has been some confusion and the legal system would like to detain you for several weeks while they sort it out. You cannot leave Namera." The attorney said, calmly.

"You're kidding me. This gives the Skull Master a huge head start on us!" Rigby protested.

"Be quiet, I have done what I can. I have declared a rule where you may wander around Namera, as long as you don't get into trouble. Any trouble, you will be sent to jail until the legal system sorts things out." Gary sighed.

"We have a whole world to explore, but we can't do anything suspicious or criminal." Don said.

"So, how do we attract the Anti-Skulls now?!" Doug asked the small group.

"I have an idea." Carson grinned, as inspiration struck.

…

"We have the Namerian legal department quite confused. It will be some time before the Anti-Skulls return, along with the Skull Crushers." The duck-snatcher reported. The snatcher was determined to stop Mordecai and Rigby in whatever they attempted. When the snatcher tried to grab some high-quality baby ducks, he ended up getting chopped in half. Now that he was back, he was doing everything he could to help the Skull Master's cause.

"Good, good. I see my virus is magnificent." The Skull Master smiled, pleased with this news.

"So what do you wish to do while the Anti-Skulls and Skull Crushers are subdued?" the snatcher inquired.

"Our war plan needs to be revised in order to factor in the Skull Crushers. Once our war plan is once more ready, we can charge in and start the final battle, which of course, we'll win." The Skull Master laughed, malice dripping from his voice.

"You're so hot." The snatcher breathed.

"I'm. Still. A. GUY." The Skull Master said, as if he had said the same thing one-thousand times.

…

"Th-thank you." The entity gasped as he was freed from his holding cell.

"No problem. Techmo's scramblers worked wonders!" Skips smiled.

"Death, let's get to the point. It's about Margaret—" Mordecai began speaking, but the entity seemed exhausted.

"He's wounded. Let's get out of here and let the MedBots fix him up…then we can ask about Margaret." Skips stated.

"No! Margaret is our top priority!" Mordecai shouted.

"No, Mordecai. She's YOUR top priority. It's the Anti-Skulls top-priority to stop the Skull Master!" Skips pointed out.

"Shut. Up." The blue jay snarled, glaring. Mordecai proceeded to slam Death against the wall.

"Wh-what?" Death whimpered.

"Margaret died recently. Bring her back." Mordecai stated, bluntly.

"C-can't…" the entity began to speak, before Mordecai tossed him to the floor.

"Mordecai, stop! You're wasting time!" Skips protested. The blue jay pulled out a gun, and aimed at the yeti.

"I grabbed this on the way here. Now, stay back." The blue jay growled.

"You're not thinking sensibly! You're letting rage cloud your mind!" Skips yelled.

"Whatever." Mordecai said, before turning back to Death.

"I…c-can't…save…her…." Death breathed, struggling to get the words out. Mordecai kicked him in the stomach, and placed the gun on the entity's left cheek.

"You better hope you can." The blue jay said, angrily.

"Not…in…this…condition…" Death coughed. Mordecai picked the entity up and threw it towards the muscular yeti.

"Come on, Skips. Let's go." The blue jay sighed.

"Fine." Skips said, bitterly, before slinging Death over his shoulder. Suddenly, sirens began to blare.

"What the heck?!" Mordecai exclaimed.

"We've wasted too much time! They're onto us!" Skips screamed. The two of them broke into a run.

…

"Listen to us…the Skull Master HAS returned." Carson protested, as the legal department called security.

"Sir, you are on the verge of disturbing our sacred peace. Cease and desist, or we will have you placed in jail for an amount of time." The security cop said, pulling out a taser.

"Stupid crazy rebels…shouting things like 'The end is near!' or 'The Skull Master's back!'" one man snickered to another, as they passed by.

"I'm not just another crazy. Because I have proof!" Carson grinned.

"What is your proof?" the cop asked, lowering his guard for a just a moment. A flash of worry flickered over his eyes.

"Our proof is Yulon, the Skull Crusher. You say he stopped the Skull Master, correct?" Carson asked.

"He did. What makes you think otherwise?" the cop asked.

"I failed! The chip didn't work!" Yulon cried out, taking a place next to Carson.

"Identification system! Process!" the cop yelled. A drone zoomed up, before flashing a laser over Yulon's face.

"Facial features exactly the same. No surgeon or make-up could've achieved this effect." The drone reported.

"See?" Carson smiled, triumphantly.

"No. He may be a shape-shifter." The cop grimaced. Carson and Yulon exchanged a look.

"Don't worry Doug…" Carson whispered, quietly. 'Yulon' nodded his acknowledgement.

…

Eileen and Chad were fully restored and back to normal. Muscle Man was still being attended to by the MedBots, though he had undergone the operation.

"Geez, Techmo. You're incredible!" Hi-5 ghost marveled, smiling at the former Super Skulls being rescued.

"Yeah, thanks. I think we're finally turning the tide." The technomancer smiled. The ghost couldn't wait for his best friend, Muscle Man to be restored. Suddenly, he remembered something.

"Techmo, we've been in this shed for a while…and there was a confidential file there, right?" Hi-5 ghost said.

"Yeah, what about it?" Techmo asked.

"Where's the file?" the ghost asked, trembling. Techmo walked over to where the file had once been and gasped.

"This isn't good. Whatever was in there, Skips instructed me never to lose it!" Techmo said.

"Then who has it? And how'd they get past the security system?" Hi-5 ghost asked.

"Well, let's hope they haven't gone too far. I should be able to reuse some of this equipment…" Techmo mumbled to himself, grabbing a gadget from a corner of the room.

"Those machines! We used those to collect traces early on! I think it was our first mission." Hi-5 ghost blurted out.

"Yeah. Perhaps this can collect a trace of our culprit." Techmo said, studying the brick-like contraption.

"B-but how? It takes a few hours for the traces to manifest into..well…readable stuff. And it takes a while to collect enough for the traces to become readable themselves!" Hi-5 ghost sighed, finding it hopeless.

"With a few modifications, I think I can fix that." Techmo said, quietly, still studying the contraption.

"Y-you can…do that?" Hi-5 ghost gasped.

"Dude. You underestimate me." Techmo laughed, before beginning to tear the contraption apart.

…

Carson and Doug, who was posing as Yulon, were taken to a special part of the legal department. They entered a small room, along with a guard.

"Alright, Yulon, just sit in that metal chair. A scan will check to see if you are a shape-shifter or not." The guard instructed. Doug obeyed.

"Hmph, how untrusting of you." Carson said, shaking his head.

"Sir, it's just a requirement." The guard said blatantly, before pulling a switch upon the wall. A blue beam began to scan over Doug, who flinched briefly.

…

"I wonder if Doug can pull it off." Don said, nervously to Rigby.

"Of course he can!" Rigby grinned.

"Still…I wish we could be in the room with Carson and him." Jeremy said.

"I couldn't help but overhear that last sentence. We apologize because the room is too small and the scanner needs as little interference as possible to operate properly." A female guard said, approaching.

"Oh, well…cool." Rigby said, fidgeting.

"If your friends ARE disturbing the peace, they may be imprisoned for a while." The guard said.

"Yeah, well, we don't think they are. And if they are, we don't know about it." Don stated, casually. The guard looked the tall raccoon in the eyes, as if looking for something. Suddenly, the guard that had left with Doug and Carson had come back, with nobody accompanying him.

"Yulon is indeed who he claims to be." The male guard said, coldly.

"Do you have the papers?" the female guard asked. A small folder was handed over and the female guard looked through the papers enclosed.

"Hm. The results seem a little odd." She noted, as she flipped through.

"Well, the brown bird interfered with the machine a little bit. But the results are clear enough." The male guard grinned.

"Yes, I suppose they are. I'm going to file these away and arrange for Yulon and the bird to meet with the Skull Crushers." The female guard said, before walking away.

"Where's Carson?" Don asked, casually.

"And where's…erm…Yulon?" Rigby also asked.

"Yulon's right here." Don pointed out. As he said it, the male guard shape-shifted back into Doug.

"We had to knock the guard out and fudge the results after the scan results proved I wasn't really Yulon. Carson and I went through a small handbook on the legal procedures that we found, so we've been going along with that." Doug grunted.

"Where's Carson?" Don repeated.

"Covering up the evidence." Doug said, dropping his voice to a whisper.

"If we get caught…" Jeremy began to say, before trailing off.

"I know. It's risky. But this is urgent—we need to meet the Skull Crushers as soon as possible!" Doug hissed.

The tall, brown bird arrived on the scene.

"Hey, guys." Carson said, looking nervous.

"Did you…do the job?" Doug asked. The brown bird nodded.

"I still can't help wondering how Mordecai's doing…after Margaret's…death." Carson sighed.

…

"Problems, master?" a deer-man asked, walking up to the Skull Master.

"Yes. I'm having problems with the war plans…no matter which tactic I write down, the Anti-Skulls always win." The Skull Master replied, flustered.

"Do not worry. You are genius, you figure this out soon." The deer-man said, confidently.

"I know. But…bring in the strategist. Perhaps he can help." Skull Master sighed.

"Of course, sir." The deer-man smiled, walking away. The Skull Master couldn't help but note how many enemies that Mordecai and Rigby had made. For example, the deer-man, whose forest they had ruined. Luckily, it had given him new allies. The Skull Master picked up a small walkie-talkie.

"Hello, Hammer. Have the infiltrators been detained yet?" the Skull Master asked, casually.

"Close." The Hammer, who was a blue mullet-wearing man of few words.

"Well, deal with them faster. They're so annoying." The Skull Master sighed. He then thought about adding Skips and Mordecai to the Super Skulls. That yeti might come in handy later…

…

"The moment of truth…here it comes." Rigby said, excitedly, as two giant golden doors opened before him.

"We finally get to meet and ally with the Skull Crushers." Carson grinned.

"Please be super awesome…please be super awesome…" Don mumbled to himself. When the doors opened, they revealed a massive room, with multiple staircases leading to tons of other rooms, which were also massive.

"I wonder where they are…" Jeremy said, staring at the empty room. 'Yulon' just stayed silent.

"Yulon, you'll have to enter the password to access the planning room. The Skull Crushers are so secretive, they won't even tell us!" the female guard grinned.

"Oh…yeah. Hidden trapdoors and stuff." Yulon said, nervously, walking forwards into the mansion.

"_RETINA SCAN PROGRAM ACTIVATED." _A monotonous voice said, belonging to the computer.

"Security system?" Rigby asked, out loud.

"_Yulon. Identified. Please enter password." _The voice continued, as a small control pad emerged from the floor. Upon it were nine buttons, each with a number: 1, 2, 3, etc.

Yulon noticed the panel on which numbers would appear. Eleven slots were upon it. Yulon pressed the 2 key, and a '2' appeared in the first slot. The shape-shifter knew that there was no chance of cracking the code…he wondered if this was the end of the little ploy.

"Enter the password already, the Skull Crushers need to know the Skull Master is back!" the female guard shouted. Yulon, instead, collapsed, holding his head.

"I can't! In my battle against the Skull Master, during the mission of which I failed in, the Skull Master stole the passcode from my memories. He then deleted _MY _memory of the passcode himself. He was incredibly thorough in making sure that I couldn't do anything to reach the Skull Crushers. Luckily, my friends, the Anti-Skulls saved me before I was killed…but I am still missing the bits and pieces of my memory that the Skull Master stole." Yulon explained, making it up as he went along.

"Oh." The female guard, breathed, before shoving Yulon away and entering the password.

"I thought you said you didn't know it!" Carson exclaimed.

"That was just another test to verify if you were Yulon. I'm sorry to hear about your memories. That…explains why you don't remember my name." the female guard said, quietly.

"Y-you? You're…Marisa, right?" Yulon stated, reading her name tag.

"Marisa is my code-name. My real name is confidential. I wish you remembered me." The woman said quietly. The Anti-Skulls watched as one of the staircases physically moved itself, leading to a different room. They all climbed up, with Marisa leading the way.

…

"We're screwed." Mordecai said, noticing the situation. He was on Z-0, about to leave the lair, when drones came in from all sides.

"It's your fault. This was supposed to be a get-in-get-out mission. We're still a while away from where I can open a portal back to the park. After all, we're not in range yet." Skips growled.

"Bravo, bravo. You nearly escaped." The duck snatcher applauded, revealing himself.

"Idiot. Do you think that we would rush into the enemy lair without a fail-safe?" Skips asked, smiling. A look of worry crossed the snatcher's face.

"Do it." Mordecai smiled. The muscular yeti pulled out a small remote, with one button.

"Don't press that!" the snatcher yelled, having no idea what the button would do.

"Then you'll let us go. Or we'll blow this place to its knees." Skips grinned.

"Y-you're bluffing. If you could do so, you would've done so already." The snatcher said, turning pale.

"Oh, no. With Death still wounded, blowing this place up would kill us too. Of course we wouldn't do it right away." Skips said, standing his ground.

"So, it's either you die, but take the whole Skull-Master operation down with you, or I let you go, is it?" the snatcher asked, trembling.

"Yeah. Let us go." Mordecai said.

"Go." The snatcher said, before a panel in the wall opened.

"Wise choice." The blue jay remarked.

"COMPUTER! SHUT DOWN ALL TECH ON Z-0! ID 01-08-34!" the snatcher cried out. The drones all collapsed. When Skips and the blue jay were exiting, Skips felt a small pinch on his left butt cheek.

"A tracking device probably." Skips mumbled to himself, before collapsing. The remote fell out of his hand and slid across the floor.

"What's the matter, yeti? A little poison too much?!" The snatcher left. Mordecai swiftly reached for the remote, before feeling a small pain.

"You…jerk." The blue jay mumbled, before he also collapsed, on top of Skips.

"No…so…close…" Death mumbled.

"Such a shame. It was indeed, so close." The snatcher laughed.

"I…have…healed a little." Death coughed out, before staring at the snatcher.

"You're still wounded. You probably have no powers whatsoever right now!" the snatcher laughed.

"Wrong…I can…kill." Death grinned, weakly. The snatcher felt a pain in his chest, before collapsing, dead.

"Hello? How are the infiltrators?" the Skull Master asked, over the snatcher's walkie-talkie. Death didn't happen to pay any attention to this and focused on Skips and Mordecai, both of which had been subdued by poison.

…

"Carrie! What've you done bringing THAT in here?" a British-accented voice yelled out. It belonged to a man who appeared to be in his early-twenties. Black hair stretched from his scalp to three inches below his waist. His shirt was sleeveless, exposing muscular arms, and his shorts stretched to one inch above his knees.

"This is Yulon. He says—" Marisa began, before Doug suddenly felt himself being forcibly transformed back to normal.

"How'd you do that?" Doug growled.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" Marisa, whose real name was Carrie, screamed out.

"It doesn't matter. The Skull Master IS back, but nobody believes us." Rigby blurted out.

"Nobody except us." A new voice said. A figure emerged from Rigby's shadow, cloaked in all-black, except for his face, which was scarred and mangled.

"You…believe us?" Carson said, in disbelief.

"Of course we do. Why else would the Anti-Skulls travel all the way to Namera?" the British man grinned. The Anti-Skulls could only stare in shock.

(SIDE NOTE: And that wraps up this chapter! With the Skull Crushers having been finally contacted, what happens next?! Will Death, in his weakened state, be able to save Mordecai and Skips?! Will Techmo and Hi-5 ghost catch the thief?! Find out next chapter, if there is a next chapter. This chapter brought to you by an anonymous reviewer. REMEMBER, reviews = guaranteed chapters! Your feedback is appreciated!)


	12. War

"Wait." Techmo repeated, for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

"I can't. Every second we waste here, the Skull Master can just find us and capture us! We're sitting ducks!" Hi-5 ghost cried out.

"We have to be patient." The technomancer sighed. The two of them sat in a cave, dark. It was hard to see anything, but Techmo felt it would be safer if everyone, including the enemies, had limited visibility. Next to the ghost and the technomancer, a muscular yeti and an entity were on top of each other. Both of them were unconscious. A blue jay was further back in the cave, in an area far enough from the entrance, it was almost pitch black.

"How do we get into these situations?" Hi-5 ghost noted.

"Yeah…it's not every day you hide in a cave with a bunch of unconscious people. On top of that, Death himself is in here and this cave is near the Skull Master's lair." Techmo laughed.

"I think it started when we found Leon…" Hi-5 ghost said, trying to pass the time.

…

**Earlier That Day**

"And this is where the traces lead us." Techmo reported, confused.

"But…it's a dumpster." Hi-5 ghost said, equally baffled.

"Maybe the thief is inside?" Techmo said. Hi-5 ghost dove right into the dumpster. Techmo waited ten seconds. The ghost didn't come out. It was then that the techomancer also dove in, wondering what could be inside. Instead of hitting the bottom of a dumpster, as expected, Techmo found himself falling down a huge hole. He was worried about hitting the bottom, desperately thinking about how to stop. Instantly, he stopped falling. Flying now, the technomancer floated to the bottom of the massive pit and found Leon.

"Welcome to my New-No-Rules-Zone! Where, of course, there are no rules!" Leon exclaimed happily.

"What do you mean?" Techmo asked, feeling worried.

"I mean I can do whatever I want!" Leon grinned, before snapping. Hi-5 ghost appeared in front of him, trapped in a cage.

"Dude, phase through the bars!" Techmo yelled.

"I can't!" Hi-5 shouted.

"I made the cage impossible to escape from." Leon said, casually.

"H-how?!" Techmo exclaimed.

"There's no rule that said I couldn't." Leon laughed, before snapping again. The confidential file showed up, next to him.

"How'd you get past the security system?" Techmo asked.

"There wasn't a rule that said I couldn't make myself immune to security systems." Leon shrugged.

"In that case…there's no rule that says I can't turn your cage into a duck!" Techmo shouted, before Hi-5 ghost found himself riding on a duck. The ghost, now freed, suddenly realized what was happening.

"And there's no rule that says I can't do this!" the ghost shouted, before the confidential file vanished.

"Where'd you put that?!" Leon said, shocked.

"There's no rule that says you can't turn into an Anti-Skull right here and right now!" Techmo shouted, hoping for a new ally. Leon, feeling hatred for the Skull Master begin to fill up his veins, got worried.

"Well, there's no rule that says you can't turn into a Super Skull!" Leon said.

"ALL HAIL THE SKULL MASTER!" Techmo cried out to the world.

"The Skull Master? He's a monster! We must stop him!" Leon protested. Suddenly, gumballs began to rain from the sky.

"Yeah, end the Skull Master!" Hi-5 ghost said.

"No. You should help me support him!" Techmo grinned, before pointing at Hi-5 ghost. The technomancer felt his hand grow to a large size and grip the ghost. When the ghost was released, it was a Super Skull.

"No! You two should help me end him!" Leon said.

"No! You should help us support him!" Hi-5 ghost protested. In a second, everyone was switching sides between good and evil…frequently.

…

**Present **

"How do you know us?" Jeremy asked.

"Simple. Yulon transmitted details of the mission to us, and told us about the Anti-Skulls. You guys fit the description." The cloaked figure that had emerged from Rigby's shadow uttered.

"Um…mind telling us your names?" Carson asked.

"I'm Nolu." The cloaked figure said.

"I'm Carrie." The female guard smiled, faintly.

"And I'm Yon." The British-voiced person grinned.

"I take it Namerian names aren't too creative." Don joked.

"What do you mean?" Nolu asked, seeming as if he didn't understand.

"Come on! Your names are Yulon, Yon, and Nolu! And Nolu backwards is Ulon anyways! So, Yulon, Yon, and Ulon. How original." Don pointed out.

"Ah. I take it as a funny Earth joke, because on Namera, that is not funny." Yon growled.

"Okay, before we fight, how about you fill us in. How did the Skull Master NOT die?" Carrie asked.

Rigby, Doug, Don, Carson, and Jeremy took turns and told the Skull Crushers everything about the current predicament.

"So…if he's been hacking into the legal department, he knows that we've met." Yon sighed.

"The best thing to do would be to form a battle plan and then carry it out against the Skull Master in a few days." Carson said.

"No. The more we wait, the longer the Skull Master gets to form a plan of his own! I say we charge right in there before the Skull Master knows what hit him!" Rigby protested.

"Or we could just sit here and argue to the end of time and let the Skull Master win." Carrie said, shutting the two up.

"You guys are the Skull Crushers…pretty much the authority on stopping the Skull Master. So, you tell us. What do we do?" Jeremy asked.

…

**Earlier That Day…**

"There's no rule that says we can't make rules! I make a rule where our alignments cannot change for the rest of the week!" Hi-5 ghost shouted. The no-rules battle continued, with added rules, destroyed rules, and random objects coming out of nowhere.

"You're outnumbered." Techmo said, as he multiplied himself exponentially. Hi-5 ghost did the same.

"You're a potato." Leon stated. Thousands of Techmo's transformed into potatoes.

"You're an asparagus!" Hi-5 ghost said. Leon felt himself begin to change. Suddenly, Leon changed back into a human…there was no rule that said he couldn't.

"Silly, silly ghost. I'm not an asparagus. I'm the Skull Master." Leon grinned, as he transformed into an incredibly hot woman.

"You may be the Skull Master…but I'm Yulon!" Hi-5 ghost said, before transforming. Yulon and the Skull Master charged towards each other…before Yulon pressed a finger to his temple, and the counter-nanochip activated. The two dropped to the floor, dead. Techmo, who had gotten rid of his potato-y condition by now, revived Hi-5 ghost.

"Dude." Techmo said, shaking his head.

"It was the best thing I could think of!" Hi-5 ghost protested. Suddenly, the Skull Master revived himself…and transformed back into Leon.

"This could go on forever. I'm going to have to end this." Leon said.

"How do you propose to do that? We're not going down without a fight!" Techmo said, fiercely.

"Sounds fair…but I'm not doing the fighting." Leon grinned, as a portal opened. Techmo and Hi-5 ghost were sucked into it before they could say anything. The no-rules man grinned, before snapping to summon back the confidential file…it didn't come back. The file had left the no-rules zone. But where had Hi-5 ghost hidden it?

…

The technomancer and Hi-5 ghost found themselves in the operating room…but there was nobody there.

"Grab some Aymitophin. We need to get out of here before the Skull Master knows we're here!" Techmo said. Hi-5 ghost did as instructed. The technomancer began to build a scrambler to disrupt the coding of the lair. Once done, he stuck it onto the wall.

"COMPUTER! Transport to Z-0!" Hi-5 ghost shouted. The capsule opened, and the two climbed into it.

…

"Wrong…I can…kill…" a voice said in the distance.

"That voice sounds familiar. Let's head towards it." Hi-5 ghost stated. The two broke into a sprint and witnessed a man clutching his chest, collapsing.

"Death?" Techmo said, in shock.

"Skips…and…Mordecai…poisoned." Death gasped, before passing out.

"We need to get them out of here!" the ghost stated.

…

**Present**

"And that's how we got here." Hi-5 ghost grinned.

"I found a scroll that can open a portal in Skips's pocket while you were recapping the events. Sadly, I can't translate the language." Techmo sighed.

"If only we could use an access point to get to a translator upon the internet." Hi-5 ghost said.

"Well, I could theoretically build one…but we're going to need more tech." Techmo stated.

"The only thing I have is Aymitophin." Hi-5 ghost laughed.

"Let me see that!" Techmo gasped. The ghost handed it over.

"Okay…but it's not tech. Why?" Hi-5 ghost asked.

"I just realized something…now get me what I used to detect the traces that led us to Leon." Techmo said. Hi-5 ghost handed over the brick-like contraption.

"Is that enough to build an access point?" Hi-5 ghost asked. In response, Techmo tore off his prosthetic robotic arm.

"This should be…enough. But I can't do this one-handedly. You have to help me. And do everything I say!" Techmo said.

"Alright." Hi-5 ghost said. And the two began to work.

…

"Can't this ship go any faster?!" Rigby protested.

"No." Nolu said, blatantly.

"We need to get to Earth urgently. There's no telling what could've happened in our absence!" Carson said.

"We get it." Carrie stated.

"How can you be so calm about this?!" Don asked.

"Because we're the Skull Crushers. And we're going to avenge Yulon." Yon sighed, painfully.

"You mean you're going to TRY to avenge Yulon. There's still a possibility we can fail." Jeremy said. After receiving a glare from everyone upon the ship, Jeremy distanced himself from the others and shut up.

"Now, we tracking the most powerful tech on your planet. That should lead us to the Skull Master's lair. We'll land near there and then start planning." Yon said.

"Let's kill him. For real, this time." Carson said, determined.

"For Yulon." Nolu sighed, distantly.

"For Margaret." Jeremy and Carson stated.

"For Mordecai." Rigby said, as he still was unsure of Mordecai's survival of the explosion.

"For the world…OUR world." Don said, staring straight ahead.

…

"Alright, I've got a signal. We can translate the scroll." Techmo said, as the makeshift contraption flashed a faint blue light.

"WAIT! What's that?!" Hi-5 ghost asked, spotting a rapidly approaching speck in the distance.

"It's coming from the sky. It must be one of Skull Master's traps! We have to translate the scroll as soon as possible!" Techmo said, urgently.

"But there's no way that he could've figured out that we were here! We've been laying low!" Hi-5 ghost protested.

"We can figure it out later. I think I just found a translation key!" Techmo exclaimed.

…

"We're detecting some life down there, near a cave. Should we make a detour?" Yon asked.

"Yeah. We can knock out those Super Skulls and gain an upper hand!" Rigby said, excitedly.

"There's only two life forms." Yon said.

"Oh. Um…we should take what we can get." Rigby mumbled, clearly upset by this revelation.

"Alright, I'll beam Carrie and Nolu down." Yon stated.

"We'll make short work of their lives." Carrie snarled.

"Wait…we don't have to kill them!" Don said.

"Yeah, they might be here against their will! Like Eileen or Chad were!" Rigby pointed out.

"No mercy for those that serve the Skull Master." Nolu said, as a hole in the floor of the ship opened. A large green light projected from the hole, meant to safely transport people in and out.

"READ IT!" Hi-5 ghost shouted. Techmo re-configured his internal language drive by hacking into the mechanical parts of his brain. After Techmo read the scroll, a bright flash nearly blinded Nolu and Carrie.

"A portal! They're trying to escape!" Carrie yelled.

"They're going to disrupt the portal!" Hi-5 ghost cried out, as Nolu pulled out a gun and shot. A laser fired directly at Hi-5 ghost. The ghost ducked.

"Not that easy, pal." Nolu snarled, before firing again. Hi-5 hid behind Skips…and the laser hit the scroll, that was upright, in front of the unconscious muscular yeti. The scroll, damaged, began to spark. The portal, which was generated and controlled by the scroll, began to flash wildly. Suddenly, screams were heard, before all went black.

…

Mordecai was slowly waking up.

"Wh-what happened?" the blue jay asked.

"A portal scroll was damaged, so it created an unstable explosion. The explosion was, in essence, just a large portal and we were all sucked into it and landed back at the park." Rigby explained.

"And Margaret? Is she-?" Mordecai began, as he began to stand up.

"She's still dead. But Death says that he'll revive her after we kill the Skull Master." Rigby smiled.

"Then…then let me do it. Let me finish the job." Mordecai demanded.

"Nah, the Skull Crushers can handle it." Rigby grinned.

"The Skull Crushers are involved now?" Mordecai asked.

"Yeah. We're planning a final assault upon the Skull Master's lair. It's going to be epic!" the raccoon grinned.

"So…it's finally coming to an end." The blue jay smiled.

"I'm…glad you're alive." Rigby blurted out. The two friends shared a moment of relief that the other was well.

"Well, then. The final battle is nearly upon us. To be honest…I can't wait to kick the Skull Master's butt." Mordecai grinned.

"Yeah, come with me. I'll lead you to the war room and you can help us make the plans." Rigby said. With that, the two walked away.

…

"These war plans are done! And they're perfect!" the Skull Master grinned.

"Those Anti-Skulls won't stand a chance." Leon said, stepping out of the shadows.

"Yes. I'm going to savor this victory." The Skull Master smiled, tasting his own triumph.

"You're hot. Wanna go out?" Leon asked.

"I'm. STILL. A. GUY!" the Skull Master screamed.

"Pity." Leon said, nonchalantly, before skating away on rollerblades.

…

(SIDE NOTE: The final battle is impending! This fanfic is coming to a close! Any last comments, questions, concerns, before the final battle? Also, in the reviews/comments, leave some ideas for the final battle. It's basically going to be next chapter, and it's going to be an all-out war between the two sides. A lot of these chapters have been brought to you by an anonymous reviewer...shout-out to whoever that is! See you guys next chapter…for the final battle. )


	13. The Final Battle

Everyone was having an emergency meeting in Skips' shed.

"Anti-Skulls, Skull Crushers, enemies of the Skull Master. We are gathered here today because we are finally ready! We have formed war plans and strategies for tons of variables, and are now planning to launch our all-out attack against the Skull Master! In a few moments, I shall open a portal to the Skull Master's lair for us to enter. Then…" the muscular yeti began speaking, before a deafening roar stopped him. The Anti-Skulls ran out of the shed to witness a large cloud rising from nearby. The sky seemed to darken from dust alone, and everyone could hear the maniacal, yet strangely seductive, laugh of the Skull Master.

"Oh no! They beat us to the first strike! The park's going to get destroyed!" Rigby gasped. A large spaceship emerged from the dust. It's large mass seemed to cover the sun, as black dots began emerging from it.

"What are those?" Nolu whispered. As the dots got closer, it was plain to see what they were.

"Pods from the Namerian Peace Shuttle?!" Skips exclaimed.

"Not just that. They're weaponized." Carson noted, as the pods got ever closer. An explosion of purple light came out of one, hitting the ground near Mordecai. The blue jay, tossed backwards by the sheer force of the blow, felt the world begin to spin. Mordecai, vision blurred and ears ringing, watched in horror as more and more purple energy bursts were fired from the pods. The Anti-Skulls were being tossed around like flies.

"Get back in the shed!" Skips commanded. When the muscular yeti closed the shed door, he saw only a few Anti-Skulls had made it back.

"The rest are outside fighting. We need to get some reinforcements." Chad grimaced.

"No. Techmo, stay here and lead the charge. Death is outside fighting and frankly, the entity isn't fit to lead the Anti-Skulls anymore. I'll lead an invasion of a smaller force into the base. While the Skull Master's most powerful units are here, this is our chance to destroy his lair once and for all." Skips said.

"Go, then. Remember the manual!" Techmo shouted, as he ran back outside of the shed. Skips surveyed those still with him.

"Ready to lead the invasion?" the yeti asked. A series of half-hearted cheers followed. Skips opened a portal and entered. Doug, Yon, Jeremy, and Don entered soon after, following the yeti. Two seconds passed, and the portal closed.

...

"It's a good thing your special power is healing." Mordecai said, as Carrie helped him to his feet.

"Whatever." Carrie said, before rushing off to help others wounded. The blue jay watched as one of the pods began to head closer towards the ground.

"Techmo, look!" Mordecai yelled, pointing. The technomancer realized the significance of this and headed towards the pod, which was being steered by a person he didn't recognize. A series of buttons were pressed on his prosthetic arm, and the pod was under his control.

"Shouldn't have flown so close to the ground. You came right into my hacking range." Techmo grinned, as the pod ejected it's pilot. Techmo climbed in and flew it into the air.

…

"We need to find a way to get to the spaceship, where the Skull Master is most likely hiding. We're just sitting ducks on the ground!" Carson reported, to Death.

"Little birdie, go into Skips' shed. Perhaps there's something in that yeti's huge trove of supernatural objects that you can use to fly up." Death replied, rolling his eyes bitterly. Carson obeyed. As the brown bird ran, he saw a bolt of purple energy hit the shed. A gaping hole was left in the ceiling of it, but Carson felt his ears pop from the noise. Then another bolt hit. And another. What was left of the shed began to crumble, and a small chest was exposed.

"Got to get…something…before…everything's…destroyed." Carson panted, leaping and grabbing onto the chest. His hand brushed against something, as he tried to get a grip. In the moment following, he was hit directly by a purple bolt. Disoriented, Carson couldn't tell which way was what. His vision blurred. Was he holding something? Where was the chest? The blur of the world faded away, and so did Carson's life.

The brown bird woke up later, finding that he was indeed holding something: a pendant. Carson turned it over and read it:

_Prevents dying. Good for 1 use. _

The pendant quickly crumbled. Carson opened the chest, thanking his lucky star that the pendant had fallen out earlier.

…

"Uh oh." Techmo said, as he pressed the FIRE button repeatedly. No energy pulse came out. It jammed. Suddenly, a pod flew directly in front of him.

"Rogue soldier…prepare to die." Hissed a guy with a spray nozzle for a head. Techmo began pressing the FIRE button, desperately now. He couldn't fly away. Not now.

"Well, crud. I guess this is it." The technomancer laughed. Suddenly, the enemy pod was rammed straight into by two guys on a hoverboard.

"Mordecai and Lame-by got this for Christmas after they helped Santa destroy an evil box." Muscle Man said, riding the board.

"It's a good thing it's meant for two people." Carson grinned, as he steered the board.

"You…you rammed me! You're going to regret that!" the spray nozzle guy shouted. Muscle Man realized the voice instantly.

"You're the guy who nearly got me fired due to your graffiti a while back! When I heard you escaped from prison, I knew it had to be YOU that was defacing the park's restrooms!" Muscle Man grunted.

"Guilty as charged. I also hired a disguise artist to look like Benson to play with your heads while I made art." The spray-nozzle guy grinned.

Muscle Man squealed, before a purple burst of energy hit the enemy pod, causing it to explode.

"Hey guys. I fixed my pod!" Techmo smiled.

"Then let's head for the ship." Carson said, gravely.

….

"Still have the map Hi-5 ghost made?" Skips asked.

"Yeah." Jeremy grinned.

"No enemies. This lair is just…unusually quiet." Don shivered.

"I bet that the Skull Master has a trap waiting for us…somewhere." Doug said, grimly.

"Whatever the case, we're going to kill him." Yon said, pushing past Skips.

"You won't get anywhere. This floor is relatively small." Don sighed.

"Then let's move to Floor A-8. That's where we need to go, right?" Yon sighed.

"COMPUTER! TRANSPORT TO A-8!" Doug yelled, in the Skull Master's voice.

"Identification?" a computerized voice replied.

"Screw this." Yon said, rolling his eyes. The Skull Crusher pulled a small device out of his pocket and plugged it into the wall. A capsule opened.

"Nice. Hacking the system." Skips said, as a compliment.

"No, primitive dummy. I've taking CONTROL of the system. You guys didn't just start out with this?" Yon asked, as if it was the most obvious move in the world.

…

Techmo placed a scrambler on the ship, and small opening in the wall revealed itself.

"Alright, let's go." Carson said. The bird was the first to enter, followed by Muscle Man, and eventually Techmo.

"The scrambler's scanning the spaceship. I should have a three-dimensional map display in a few minutes." Techmo whispered.

"We don't have a few minutes! Every second we waste, more of our friends are dying on the ground!" Carson protested.

"Shut up ladies, do you want the Skull Master to know we're here?!" Muscle Man growled.

"Yes. Of course." Techmo whispered, sarcastically. Carson stifled a laugh.

"OH NO, BROS! TECHMO'S STILL A SUPER SKULL! GET HIM!" Muscle Man yelled, extremely loudly.

"It was sarcasm, you idiot!" Carson said. The opening in the wall swiftly closed and the room was filled with a red tint. A blaring alarm sounded.

"We're screwed." Techmo said, whimpering.

…

"Eileen! Don't die!" Rigby cried out, spotting the wounded mole near the shed.

"R-rigby?" the mole said.

"What happened?! Those blasts are easy to avoid, they usually hit the ground around us!" Rigby yelled. A cut swelled on the raccoon's forehead, and one of his eyes had blackened. His arm was twisted the wrong way, yet Rigby was somehow able to overcome the pain to confront his friend.

"I…was hit with…debris." Eileen whispered, as if it wasn't obvious. A large, jagged piece of stone, most likely from the park's house, was jutting out of her stomach.

"Listen, there's a small chest where Skips' shed used to be! I'm going to get something that can heal you! Just…stay alive!" Rigby whimpered.

"No problem…boss." Eileen laughed, before breaking out into a coughing fit. The raccoon ran across the battlefield, towards the shed. Where the heck was Carrie?

…

"Are you sure you can phase us through?" Mordecai asked, as a pod noticed the floating blue jay and the ghost.

"Yeah, we'll be in that ship in…no time!" Hi-5 ghost gasped. The distance between the ground and the ship was incredibly large, and the ghost had to clear that distance with a passenger. Hi-5's worried that he would drop Mordecai, before forcing the thought out of his ghostly head.

"Pod approaching!" the blue jay yelled. A purple burst was fired. Mordecai screamed, before feeling solid ground.

"We're in." Hi-5 ghost gasped, panting severely. A red alarm was blaring.

"Great! We just got in and they already know we're here!" Mordecai complained.

"No…Muscle Man came in here earlier. I hope he's okay, wherever he is." Hi-5 ghost sighed.

…

"Here we are." Yon reported, as if he were the leader. Skips wrinkled his face in disgust at the Skull Crusher's attitude.

"The tech room. There's a failsafe. The Skull Master prepared for the possibility of losing." The yeti said, observing the panel.

"No DUH, Captain Obvious." Yon said, shoving the yeti away.

"I would appreciate it if we kept contact to a minimum." Skips growled.

"What're you going to do?! Without me, you would just stare at the pretty buttons and be lost on how to hack into the system and gain knowledge of the Skull Master's ship, pods, stuff like that." Yon taunted.

"Without you, I could just use Techmo's manual and shut this whole place down!" Skips protested.

"Um…guys…" Jeremy said, noticing something in the background.

"YOU were the one that thought you had to have members of your ragtag group and fetch us for a measly, easy task! The Skull Master's nowhere near as organized as he was when he attacked Namera!" Yon said.

"This is coming from the guy who let his own teammate DIE on a foreign world! Remember Yulon?! He needed us!" Skips yelled.

"Yulon needed you. We. Don't." Yon said.

"Then you can leave. Don, Jeremy, Doug and I can handle this." Skips snarled.

"Fine, then! You Anti-Skulls turned out to be a bunch of babies that can't handle the simplest of tasks and problem solving." Yon sighed, and he was gone in a second.

"FINE!" Skips yelled after him, before looking around the room. Jeremy, Doug, and Don were all missing.

…

Techmo continued to hack into the systems of the seemingly endless supply of drones.

"I'm trying to get them to fight each other, but there's just too many for me to hack into at once!" Techmo cried out.

"Maybe you don't have to hack into them at all." Carson said, hatching an idea.

"What do you propose we do then, dummy?! Sit back and get vaporized?!" Muscle Man asked, sarcastically.

"Yeah, that's a perfect idea! Everyone drop your weapons and sit down so we can all die!" Carson replied, with an equal amount of sarcasm.

"OH MY GOSH, BROS! CARSON WANTS US TO DIE! IF WE LISTENED TO HIM, WE'LL-" Muscle Man began to speak, before he was picked up and tossed into the drone army. All the drones focused on him.

"Run." Carson instructed. As Techmo and Carson ran past the drones, Muscle Man squealed.

"Traitors! A Super Skull and a suicidal bird! You guys are—EEAAAUEURIOEH!" Muscle Man yelled, as he was hit over and over by the drones powerful guns.

"Your map's ready, right? Have it guide us to the Skull Master!" Carson yelled, as Muscle Man's screams faded.

"Alright. Here's the way—" Techmo said, and the two ran off.

…

Using the manual, Skips began hacking the control panel.

"They probably left with Yon. After all, he was making a big deal of proving how much better he was than me." Skips grumbled, as he worked. The yeti didn't bother to think of the deadly trap that his friends had fallen into. Suddenly, he felt something click inside him. The yeti stopped hacking.

"Welcome to the Super Skulls." Leon grinned, walking in, holding a gun. Skips looked and saw a small dart sticking out of his shoulder.

"Hm. So you thought manufacturing a gun that turns people into Super Skulls while you were in your no-rules land could stop me?" the yeti laughed.

"What?! How are you not on our side?!" Leon gasped.

"Because, I'm holding the manual." Skips grinned.

"And?" Leon asked.

"And Techmo wrote in a special 'rule.'" Skips smiled, holding up the manual, and flipping to a page.

"No…Leon…Can...Engineer….Traps?" Leon read.

"Yeah. And because your gun only works if there's no rule blocking it…" Skips began to say, before the gun exploded in blue goo.

"Sadly, your friends didn't sign off on that rule." Leon said, rubbing the sparkly blue goo off of himself. Jeremy, Doug, and Don emerged from the shadows.

"No way." Skips breathed.

"Way." Jeremy laughed, as Don rushed forwards. The yeti and the raccoon began to wrestle.

"Get the manual! The yeti can't hack without it!" Leon commanded. Jeremy rushed forwards and reached for it, but Skips let himself fall on the white bird. In a pile of sorts, topped by Don, Skips found himself subdued.

"You should've become a Super Skull while you had the opportunity. It's a shame I got your friends before you revealed the rule." Leon cackled. Doug morphed into a gun. Skips struggled, but Don held him steady and pinned. Leon pointed Doug, as a gun, straight at the yeti's head.

…

"Ssh! Hear that?" Mordecai whispered. Hi-5 ghost listened.

"Voices. I can't make them out, but they sound familiar." The ghost said.

"Exactly. Beyond this door, where the voices are, the Skull Master must be hiding." Mordecai said quietly.

"Then let's phase through. They'll never know what hit 'em." Hi-5 ghost grinned.

…

"Did you hear those voices?" Carson asked, moments earlier.

"Yeah, Skull Master may be beyond this door. But how come he isn't in the control room?" Techmo whispered back.

"Too bad your map can't display a list of people and who they are." Carson joked.

"Whatever." Techmo said.

"TECHMO!" Mordecai yelled, hugging the technomancer.

"When'd you get here?" Techmo asked, laughing. The blue jay released him.

"Hi-5 phased us through so you didn't notice. Is that a map?" the blue jay noted.

"Yeah, we're going to ambush the Skull Master in the control room. Care to join us?" Techmo asked.

"Wait! Where's Muscle Man?" Hi-5 ghost asked.

"He gave his own life, heroically, to save us." Carson lied.

"So…he's…dead?" Hi-5 ghost asked.

"Yeah, probably. But Death'll revive him if we win this." Techmo said.

"Hm. Muscle Man and Margaret. I can't wait to see their faces." Mordecai said, his eyes becoming distant.

"Snap out of it! Now's not the time!" Carson said, snapping in front of the blue jay's face.

"Everyone, follow me. Let's go take down the Skull Master." Techmo grinned, opening the door.

…

"Remember the Ultra-Slammuh HQ?" Rigby asked, pouring a strange cream over Eileen's wounds.

"Where we…URGH…first met the Skull Master?" Eileen said, softly. The jagged stone had been removed from her chest, and Rigby was tending to the wounded area. He had found a cream, but there were no other healing items. The raccoon could only hope that it was strong enough.

"Yeah. Well, when I heard you were a fan of the Skull Master as well…" Rigby began to speak, before trailing off.

"Go on." Eileen whispered.

"I…er…was surprised that we had that in common. Then I realized we had a lot of other things in common." Rigby said.

"I like where this is going." Eileen laughed.

"Well, when you're not wearing your glasses, I think you're pretty…cute…and…" Rigby spoke, frowning. The cream didn't seem to be working. Eileen opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, the mole smiled, though she was silently screaming in agonizing pain on the inside.

"…And….I was thinking I can't let you die here. Because…you have to hold on…and because….because…." Rigby began to speak, stuttering. But the raccoon noticed his patient's head had rolled to the side. He checked for a heartbeat and a weak, unstable pattern answered. It seemed like it was about to go out. The raccoon, now knowing that his patient wasn't listening due to her condition, finished his sentence:

"…I think it'd be awesome if we came together."

…

Everything had happened so fast. First, Leon was pointing a gun at Skips. Then, Leon was writhing on the floor and the gun was in Yon's hands. The gun morphed into a 100-ton weight, and Yon dropped it, letting it crash through the floor. In a few moments, Skips had suddenly gone from the brink of death to back on his feet. Don was now piled on top of Jeremy.

"I knew you couldn't survive without me." Yon laughed, but this time more friendly, instead of taunting.

"Why'd you come back?" Skips asked.

"Because I was ticked that the Anti-Skulls, who Yulon told us such good things about, were possibly babies that didn't know what they were doing. I was ticked that we had to get involved in what seemed like a trivial topic. Then I remembered what the Anti-Skulls told us when they were on Namera. I was the one that was stupid, because I didn't know the Skull Master was still alive. I didn't go back and check! Judging from your Anti-Skulls overview of these events, I'm thinking perhaps this wasn't a trivial manner that could've been dealt with swiftly. Furthermore, I remember nearly dying earlier today at the battlefield. I guess the lair was so underwhelming, it made me think that the Skull Master was disorganized." Yon explained.

"Earlier today…you saw the spaceship and the pods. How much damage they did in so little time. We're up against something big. I'm glad you're here to help." Skips admitted, with a little reluctance.

"Yeah. Here, if I may, I'll finish the operation." Yon said, approaching the control panel and typing, with no need of a manual.

…

A pod approached Eileen and Rigby.

"SURVIVORS. ELIMINATE." A robotic voice said. Rigby realized he couldn't run anywhere in time.

"Well, Eileen. I'm sorry I failed you." The raccoon said, ready to accept his dismal fate. Suddenly, the pod exploded, in front of his eyes. However, it was so close, that the explosion knocked Rigby away into a disorienting loop. The raccoon was knocked out before he hit the ground. All over, pods began exploding. Eventually, only the large spaceship remained.

…

"Rigby! Rigby!" Eileen gasped, as she awoke. It had taken a while for the cream to take effect, but it worked miracles. The mole found the raccoon in a small crater. She searched for the cream, after noting how bad he looked. But, the cream was nowhere in sight.

…

"We've done what we've can. Let's go back." Yon said, satisfied with his work. Skips opened a portal, and threw the unconscious bodies of Doug, Don, and Jeremy inside. Yon entered after, and Skips was the last one to enter. The group came out in the park.

"Skips! You're here! You need to help me!" Eileen shouted. She led the yeti to Rigby.

"This isn't good." The yeti noted.

"You stay here on the ground and tend to the wounded. I'll head up to the spaceship." Yon said.

"Sounds like a plan." The yeti smiled, watching as the Skull Crusher ran off.

"Chad and the others are also wounded. Do you have any more of that creamy-stuff?" Eileen asked, describing the cream Rigby had used.

"No, but I can brew another batch. Do you think that those in need of medical assistance can survive until then?" Skips asked.

"How long does it take?" Eileen responded.

…

"Took you long enough to get here." Nolu laughed, as the Anti-Skulls entered the control room. The Skull Master was tied up, in the middle of the room.

"How'd you guys do it so fast?" Mordecai said, in awe.

"It wasn't easy. Carrie's in critical condition." Nolu sighed, pointing to the crippled woman.

"She was the healer…so she was an easy target." Techmo realized.

"Yeah, let's take this thing to the ground and finish this." Nolu sighed. Suddenly, a bloody blob was hurled into the room by something powerful.

"Gross. What is that?!" Carson said, in disgust.

"Muscle Man." Hi-5 ghost said, able to recognize the blob quickly. A large robot entered the room.

"So. The Skull Master has some sort of…Super Drone." Techmo said. Suddenly, the 'Skull Master' that was tied up morphed into Benson. A pre-recorded message was played to the entire spaceship:

"_Hello, Anti-Skulls. If you are hearing this, that means you've defeated my double. I believe you remember encountering my disguise master earlier? Anyways, you'll never find where I really am. This spaceship has a self-destruct sequence. And my…buddy…will keep you entertained so you won't escape before the countdown ends." _

The message ended.

"I'm guessing that drone is the friend…" Mordecai gulped, as the number TWENTY was shouted by a computerized voice. NINETEEN soon followed.

"Seventeen seconds and counting." Techmo reported, hacking into the Super Drone's system.

"Can't you do it any faster?!" Nolu shouted, panicking. The super drone collapsed.

"Let's get out of here! We have to alert the others that this whole thing was a set-up!" Mordecai cried out. The seconds passed all too quickly.

ELEVEN.

TEN.

"I can't phase through the wall!" Hi-5 ghost reported.

"Why not?!" Mordecai shouted.

"Because the Skull Master prepared for every possible scenario. He probably had the ship programmed to seal itself so tight that even a ghost can't get through." Nolu growled.

"And the trigger for the ship to seal itself must've been the message." Mordecai sighed.

SEVEN.

SIX.

"If only Yon, our technomancer were here. But nothing can get in…or out." Nolu said, realizing how hopeless everything seemed to be.

FIVE.

FOUR.

"It's a good thing I AM here." Yon's voice played over the intercom.

THREE.

TWO.

"Then stop the countdown!" Mordecai cried out.

ONE.

The Anti-Skulls braced themselves. But nothing happened.

"So…we're not dead." Techmo said, awkwardly.

"I redirected the code path to a different location. Another spaceship just blew up." Yon reported, over the intercom.

"I can phase through again. The ship unsealed due to the sequence being stopped." Hi-5 ghost said, happily.

…

On the ground, damage was surveyed.

"Listen guys, the Skull Master got away. But we'll find him. And stop him. You guys are welcome to tag along if you'd like." Yon reported to the Anti-Skulls.

"Sorry, but we have jobs and friends here on Earth. We'll be fine." Mordecai sighed, passing up the offer.

"Mordecai!" a friendly, yet familiar voice called out. Margaret, revived by Death, embraced the blue jay.

"Yo, ladies!" Muscle Man called out, walking up.

"Well, we'll be going now. Have fun on Earth, and it won't be just us looking for the Skull Master. It'll be all of Namera!" Yon reported.

"WAIT!" Carson yelled.

"Hm?" Carrie asked, having recovered.

"I…I want to come with you. I want to help stop the Skull Master!" Carson said.

"Same here." Chad and Jeremy said, in unison. Chad, Jeremy, and Carson joined the Skull Crushers upon a giant spaceship. Once the ship had taken off, and the Skull Crushers and the remaining Anti-Skulls had parted, a golf cart pulled up. A very, very angry gumball machine climbed out.

"WELL. THIS PARK IS FULL OF CRATERS, DAMAGES, AND FIRES. SOMEONE CLEAN UP THIS MESS!" Benson yelled out. Pops climbed out of the cart and surveyed the damage.

"Oh my." Pops said, observing the wreckage that was once the park. He climbed back into the cart, and Benson drove them away.

"Well, we'll see you at the coffee shop." Margaret said, hurriedly before she and Eileen took off.

"I…uh…have souls to collect." Death said, seeping into the shadows.

"I have to…do…stuff." Techmo said, pressing a button on his robotic arm. The technomancer disappeared in a flash of green light.

"I'm a rock." A rock said.

"And I'll take Doug to a therapist so he'll remember that he's not a rock." Don said, picking up Doug, the rock, and walking away.

When most had parted, only the park employees remained. Mordecai and Rigby looked at each other, then the damage, and then at each other again.

"Wanna go the arcade?" Rigby asked.

"Yeah." Mordecai said, and the two walked towards the arcade, once more completely oblivious that neither of them had any quarters on hand.

(SIDE NOTE: And that wraps up this supersized final chapter! I know it was long, but meh. So, um…THE END! WOOOOO-HOOOOOO! What now, you ask? Well, you guys could all go read the first story(Regular Show: Rise of the Skull Master), and then reread this one. Also, I could write ANOTHER sequel involving the Skull Master, because I kind of left the ending on this fanfic a bit open. Leave your final reviews, comments, questions, concerns, etc! Thank you for reading!)


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